The Things I Love(d)

(source )

Found myself drifting away from the things I love(d?). Found myself sleep deprived. Found myself hitting the snooze button repeatedly - worth of at least one hour of cozy bed time (which is cozy only in theory, because it frustrates me to the moon and back). 

Found myself somewhere in the middle, trying to figure out whether the things I love(d) define me, or do I define them; whether it's because I do not believe in them anymore, or simply because I grew out of them.

Found myself tired of being excited by the things I love(d). Even more, found myself at the point where I don't even care whether I love them or not.

On the other hand, I love reading the blogs written by people who love and do those things I love(d). Somehow, their passion is not contagious anymore (as it used to be for me), nor motivating (as it used to be for me).

I (still) treasure each and everyone on them - of the things I love(d - but or on a mental level, I don’t feel that urge to dive in and indulge in them anymore. And there's a wishful level as well - I'd want everything to go back to 'normal', because it would make everything so easy, instead of moving forward and leaving everything behind.

I have started running mid December. Blaming the Santa Shuffle for wanting to 'go back' and 'run with ease'. There was a time when I used to love running, the time 'alone' - just me, myself and the idea of pushing my limits, the 'runners high' and everything that came with it. Then I had other goals, incompatible with running, and had to 'give it up'. After a while, I was left with neither [:))]. With high hopes of re-finding those long forgotten butterflies, I challenged myself to take up running. Again. No love this time - but I have to admit that at least the last ~ 10 minutes of my runs are [ahem, WERE! it's been more then 2 weeks] exhilarating.

 (source: Pinterest)

Ordered myself a couple of Bondi Bands - yes, running related, but not only. They feel 'perfect', like there's nothing there. Simply love them because it's the only headband that doesn't give me headaches - yes, I'm weird that way, I get headaches from headbands. And the designs are nice (and lots to choose from).

I've also started to (re?)organize and (re?)decorate the art studio room. [not sure about the 're' in re-decorate and re-organize, just because that room never reached the point of being organized or decorated]. Now I'm pretty content with myself [:))] and the (partial) result.[pics to follow?] No exhilarating love here, no cravings of any sort to open the bottles of acrylics and go nuts with them, but let's never lose hope, right? The hope consists in the fact that once the room's nice and inviting, I would instantly be caught in the flames of bursting fire of artistic inspiration.

Moving on. 

As always, since trying to 'get back' to old strategies, how about starting a 'to do list'. It would include stuff like this:

** take a photo every day

** make a drawing every day

** add something to my S-log every day

** run.

** just do it - you know, those artsy-craftsy DIY lil' projects that keep getting postponed

** wake up and look the sky in the eyes. Every single day.

** etc.

Or maybe I should give in and listen to the experts: start by making a vision board.... treasure map, hehe!

(source)

Mr. Snowflake, You're Such A Teaser!

 

These pics were taken on the morning of Dec. 3rd - yes, the Tuesday I returned to work after the Christmas holidays. 8 am, maybe? 

I was beaming with joy - no, not exaggerating at all!

So this was the view from the study room window, dining room window, and master bedroom window, respectively. 

But my happy day(s) with Mr. Snowflake didn't last. By ~ Thursday it was almost gone. By Friday - it was back to muddy. Saturday (I mean now), there are patches of (dirty) snow among mud and sand (you know, THE sand), and the sight of asphalt and bare sidewalks continuously sends bitter arrows towards my hurting retinae.

I've been craving snow for a while, and right now I was left craving it even more.

C'mon, Mr. Snowflake, I know you can do better than this! Stop with the teasing!

The Weekend Before Monday

It was the Santa Shuffle this weekend!

There was Santa himself, there was no snow, there was rain, there was the park - all decorated for Christmas, there was no snow, there was hot chocolate and coffee, there was no snow, there were people wearing Elf ears, Santa hats, Santa costumes or corsets, there was no snow, but it was lots of fun. And all for a good cause - "the event helps The Salvation Army to assist families and individuals in need during the Christmas season and throughout the year".

 I was in the Christmas-y mood already, now all the way deep down, and there's no way out.

Craving Snow

As I was saying... craving snow; pinning it!


Some of the snow eye candy images I came across today:

 (pic from: http://desktopwallpaper-s.com/42/-/Winter,_snow/)

 (pic from: http://www.global-greenhouse-warming.com/ecology-of-snow.html)

(pic from: http://www.global-greenhouse-warming.com/ecology-of-snow.html)

 

(pic from: http://www.allcountries.org/photos/finland/finland_photos_20.html)

Will be pinning some more on my recently started Snow Board for sure!

My Treasure Map

I'm craving snow and dreaming of Christmas. Simply can't help it - whatever I do, my mind is detouring this way.

Deep fluffy snow, snowman with cute hat, giant snowflakes, warm fluffy socks, fuzzy lounge pants, warm green tea, large window framing the outside winter beauty, and-everything-else to finalize the cliche mind picture in the tiniest of the smallest details . Cliche, but lovely. And lovely is what counts!

Returned from a more-than-awesome weekend with my mind set on winter, heavy snow on the roofs of cottages decorated with Christmas lights, abundant ideas of all-things-pretty, all-things-cozy, and so on. There's a true and extremely detailed treasure map inside my mind - and it screams and kicks to come out.

The festive lights in Niagara Falls this weekend hold a huge part of the blame for my sudden cravings of winter and Christmas.  Them and the cold - coz' baby, it's cold outside! It's still Fall everywhere, but Winter in the air - and bellow here we are, my dog and I, taking a photo break from all the playing and running around by the Falls.

It's still November. And enjoying every minute (and leaf) of it!

So Quiet

There's really not much left to say - all the words are bellow, inside there.

 

 

On a completely different note, though, I'm contemplating the idea of having my own Etsy store. Details to follow. 

November Already?

Time for counting sleeps till Christmas? Knitting? 'Creative' teas? Winter tires? Craft sessions? Sale coupons from Michael's? Book-thick flyers from Walmart?

I guess the above is just November gone bad. Just want to keep it sweet, crisp, foggy and sunny.

The highlight of my past weeks (my Tuesday evening art classes):

 

 The summary of my past weeks:

 (from: http://www.artflakes.com/en/products/we-need-to-sleep-more )

First on my (imaginary) to-buy list... if only a saw could help us cope with what comes at us! If only....

Sweet October

Now that sweet October's here:

Inspiration on a Gloomy Wednesday

Bookshelves make me smile on the inside, brighten my thoughts and make me dream far. If there was a contest for coziness, even cute blankets paired with my favorite tea sipped from my favorite tea mug would fall far behind bookshelves.

They've been my life long fascination - fascination that was born in my early childhood: looking up at the neverending bookshelves in my grandparents living room, bookshelves nesting the hundreds of books that I almost everyday started to count but lost track every single time. I was trying to feel sorry for the words trapped inside the covers, or for the people who could not get to those words because they won't open the books... couldn't decide between the two. But never really succeeded in my efforts of feeling sorry for one or the other, and always lost myself in the 'let's pretend' realms.

Even though the house I live in now would've made even my thoughts claustrophobic (I can touch the ceiling if I reach really high), in my not at all rare episodes of daydreaming, my books find home in a large room with extremely high ceilings, statuesque bookshelves, the kind of walls that would make me feel like Alice after she drank from the "drink me" bottle.

Some bookshelves I came across and instantly loved:

(via flickr.com)

 (via http://blog.hgtv.com/design/)

Yes, I saved the best for last - the third is my favorite: oh, the ladder!

(A)mazing

Maybe it's all about finding ways...

Counting Days to September

 

Down to 1 day till September!

It's been a while now since I've been counting days and sleeps and days and sleeps. September gets me as excited as snow on Christmas Eve does! That's because snow-on-Christmas-Eve is just snow on Christmas Eve, but when September's here what this really means is September&October&November are here, all three together, all full of beauty and fun and energy, crisp and healthy air, and the promise of winter following soon.

Shaking off the staleness of summer, I'm so full of energy and ideas, I'm even considering signing up for 2012 Oxfam Trailwalker Competition (100K in 48 hours, for a good cause).

Dreaming of Fall colors, amber light, long shadows, camping, hiking, reaching back to myself, artsy side and all.

Random. August. Puzzle Bits.

Bits and Pieces of a Random June Weekend

Stillness:

Bedtime story:

Reminiscences of a June weekend from long ago:

Saint Tropez and I Love Paris, live-and-a-piano, crème brûlée, French wine and lemon tart - that was a crowd of sweet decadence

Room with a (pretty lovely) view:

Sipping words away:

Catch with your eye, capture with your camera

While craving a real cityscape photowalk, thankful for smartphones:

Then littlest things and moments combined:

And peeking out:

Dare Me

(found this photo in an Etsy store, and it's by Madebygirl.com, and instantly fell in love with it)


I wear too many hats, can't give up any - love them all.
I'm at the point where I need challenges to stay on track and do stuff. Yup, stuff. Like what? Like anything!

I love to many things, and unfortunately I'm a perfectionist (sugar-coated name for "chicken", maybe?) so I feel like I have no guts to start anything that I know it wouldn't reach its best, and/or woudn't bring the best out of me.

I'm passionate about (almost) anything and everything. I'm artsy and heartbroken when I see my acrylics drying out because I don't have time to use them, or I'm too much of a perfectionist (uhm, chicken?) to just dive deep into anything that crosses my mind; I'm also fintess-y and woulnd't trade a good nice workout for (almost?) anything in the world, but I miss dancing (oh right, that's why I got my Zumba certification), and I miss playing the piano (that, at least, I know for sure it's not gonna happen. Ever again. Too much of a perfectionist for that one). I love drawing (don't even go there), I love theatre (I'm doing good here, since I'm catching up with theatrical performance regularly), I love photography (oh, and Horoball's been deserted almsot since I've finished my "honeymoon" challenge). I love the outdoors, and if it were by me, I'd be wondering the streets all day long with my dog, or get lost in a forest, or just Springbank Park, I love reading and sharing what I read with the world - hence signed up with a new bookclub (after being kicked out of the previous one for poor attendance - well... too much to do, so little time, eh?).
We'll see how long until I'll be kicked out of this one as well - so busy doing things I love that I don't have time for things I love even more! 

I need challenges and dares to prevent me from getting sidetracked from the things I love, by the things I love. This is so unfair!

Yellow Umbrellas, Operation Daffodil 2011

Beautiful!

My Extremely Latin Beginning of the Year

Or better: How on Earth did I start (on end up) teaching Zumba

Serendipity! A series of totally unrelated events that turned the end of 2010 and beginning of 2011 extremely Latin.

The very beginnings: contemplating. Contemplating. Contemplating. Towards the end of October 2010, thinking that my PTS path started to feel stale, wanting to spice things up. Accidentally, found out that Zumba training was coming to my neck of woods! So I signed up, early bird, got the discount, almost forgot about it.

On the other hand: I was missing dancing so much, I was this close to re-joining the dance troupe – again, perfect timing for the Zumba training.

In the meanwhile... December came, brought with it spending the winter Holidays in the warm and friendly Texas. So I was trading London, ON's snow for Texas's sun. Snow's my favourite, sun not that much. I went – weird again.

Spent the last hours of 2010 in the beautiful San Antonio, living a fairytale. I said goodbye to (sad) 2010 on a patio of a Mexican restaurant (extremely weird, considering how much I disliked Mexican cuisine), sipping on Margaritas (these I like), looking down at the gorgeous San Antonio's River Walk, that looked almost surreal bathed in lights.

My first meal of 2011 -  brunch on a (different) Mexican restaurant patio, indulging in... tortilla soup and 'tres leches' cake (can't believed I voluntarily ate that, considering I hate(d) cilantro, I hate(d) tortilla, and most of all wet tortilla, I hate milk and most of all, I absolutely hate cake drenched in anything liquid – I even hate sauce on my sandwiches, because it touches the bread!!!) .

I had no idea what's gotten into me, knowing me this should've been extreme, but – unusual twist of fate – felt completely natural.

Back to the main idea of this blog post (yes, I know, it's been a while), and all the “how come you could trade heavy lifting, supersets and God-knows-what for Zumba, you of all people?” that bombarded me lately. No, it wasn't a trade.

I got licensed few days after we got back from Texas, at the beginning of 2011, by the awesome Amanda Grant, ZES. And I was hooked!

Sooooo hooked! I love the people, the energy, the dancing, the happy faces , the big smiles. I haven't given up anything, it wasn't 'one or the other' - it's all where it should be, the gap was filled!

 I was eager to greet September this year. Anxiously waiting, and planning, and planning, and waiting. And it came, tornado-ing from it's very beginning, hitting, biting, breaking apart - left behind my very own Pompei, at my very own point of no return (and oh, on so many levels!).

And if seeing is believing, than not seeing would be... what?

And then September brought his birthday...


And then mine... I got to meet Queen, I got to build sand castles, I got to head SE on Sunset Rd on our way to the beach to see the actual sunset.

 And then October came.

And October brought Houston - my extra strength fast acting (and as I was to discover at a later time - not at all long lasting - or maybe a little?) Advil for the soul. But put a huge, hard to remove smile on my face.

 

And then Thanksgiving smelled like pumpkin pie.

And then, further in the month, October smelled like early winter, autumn leaves, apples and apple pie. Still a few days left of this October.