just around the corner...

in one week from today i will be flying into boise, idaho

to meet up with this heartwing sister and this hot mama sister.

we are all going to brave girls camp together.
you really should go and read all about what melody ross and kathy wilkins
have cooked up, in the beautiful mountains of mccall idaho.
(recently jenny doh and suzi blu sang their praises of this intimate event)
i am so excited to go breath that cool, crisp mountain air.
to find that brave girl i know is inside me.
to reunite with beautiful souls and sew new amazing spirits
 into this life tapestry that i am weaving.

i am so ready to go and just...

what do you have around the corner that you are looking forward to?

cul*ti*vate exciting anticipation

a safe harbor...

i was asked to speak at a leadership conference tonight.

i will be speaking to women who lead "young" women from the ages of 12-18.

i was asked to speak about how, as leaders, 

we can cultivate a spirit of unity among a group of very diverse girls.  

young women that come in all different packages.  

girls with different strengths and weaknesses.  

different interests.  different friends.

how can we get them to respect one another?  to care for one another?

how can we create a safe harbor for these youth 

when they meet with one another?

as i was thinking about how and what i might share with these leaders, 

i thought about you, my blog friends.  

i thought about this safe, secure community i have landed myself amongst.

i always feel loved and valued.  i don.t ever feel judged.  

i feel encouraged and lifted and inspired.

when i come here, i feel as though my SHIP has docked in a safe harbor.

and for these "FRIEND-SHIPS" that surround me...

i am truly grateful.

so i wanted to pick your brain...

what makes you feel safe and secure out there in your creative journey?

what is your safe harbor?

cul*ti*vate a safe harbor

quitting is not an option here...

have you ever reached one of those milestones in your life,

the kind that you think you might never reach?

and when you look back on the journey that brought you to that place,

you think...

"man that was really really hard!"

"i never thought i would get here!"

"i didn.t think i could do it!"

"i almost quit so many times."

but...

as you are standing on the top of the hill looking back on the 

difficult road you.ve just worked so incredibly hard to climb,

you think...

i am so happy that i didn.t quit!

and it.s those very words that speak peace to your heart

they convince you of the truth that 

you can do hard things!

and they hold your hand the next time something 

"seemingly impossible" creeps into your life.

they whisper...

{happy 16th baby!}

cul*ti*vate fortitude

emerging...

you are!

you might not know it yet...but

you are emerging!

sometimes the little signs are right smack in front of us

and other times, they aren.t quite so apparent.

they hid out of the way...and that makes us feel as if we aren.t moving at all.

but

you are!

you are!

you are!

so be kind to yourself this weekend.

emerging takes a lot of work.

cul*ti*vate kindness to yourself

allison.s nest...

everyone has a story.

a very interesting chapter in my storybook began over two years ago 

when i read kelly rae roberts book..."taking flight"

{i wrote about it here}

basically i had stuffed all my creative hoopla deep down inside me 

and it was starting to rebel.

it raised it.s claws and showed it.s teeth...hissing as it went.

oh, i heard it all right.  but i was afraid to confront it.  

afraid of what?  i don.t know.  

i.m a chicken i guess.  i was fearful.  doubtful.  

who am i to pick up a paintbrush again?

who am i to take extra time to myself to create?

who am i to think others may be interested in my art?

gratefully for me i have a friend.

you know one of those

 "every girl needs a friend exactly like you "

 kind of friends.

i confided in her and got questions like...

who are you not to pick up a paintbrush again?

who are you not to take extra time to yourself to create?

ummmm...{silence on my part.}

so knowing me as well as she does, she knew i would need 

an assignment to tame those wild creative beasts within my heart.

allison:     "well, my birthday is just around the corner 

and the only thing i want from you is a painting of a nest."

me:     "i don.t paint nests."

allison:     "well you better get started!"

i tell ya what...i painted A LOT of nests those next few months.

A LOT of nests.  none of them were good enough in my eyes for allison.

finally i thought i just might have it.    a nest.  

a nest with real turquoise cabachon eggs. one for each of allison.s little chicks.  

{she is a jewelry designer so i thought the turquoise was ever so clever}

then i sat this little egg filled nest upon my shelf and picked it apart.
brush stroke by brush stroke by brush stroke.
allison.s birthday came and went.  i probably gave her something lame.
14 months went by since i first started painting little brown nest.
and the longer she sat on that ledge, the more she grew on me.
i started to realize that just like life...nests aren.t perfect.
they are perfectly imperfect.  and if we hold our talents back until we think they are perfect, then we will never share them with others.
what part of journey did i misunderstand?  a wonderful man i adore once said...
"enjoy the journey"


i bet you can guess what allison got for her birthday this year!


cul*ti*vate the journey

beauti-full

dear friends...

i want to share a secret with you that i believe is true.

you are beautiful!

you were born beautiful. 

you came into this world with 

beautiful innate qualities that only you possess. 

deep inside you lie beautiful characteristics that are yet to be discovered.

when you see something or hear something that seems familiar to you...

that is the beautiful spirit within you saying...

"here i am.  remember me?  i.ve been waiting for you."

listen.

then take her hand and follow where she leads.

she knows the way.  she knows the way to show you... just how 

full of beauty 

you really are.

and that.s what i believe is true.

my apologies to balsamic...

dear balsamic vinegar...

oh how i love thee.

i was especially giddy today as i was roasting tomatoes and had a happy accident. i didn.t realize how hot i had gotten my pan and it wasn.t until i had added your beautiful bronzed liquid into the mix that i realized my mistake...you immediately started to bubble and boil and thicken in an angry rebellion.  so i let you have your tantrum because it was quite funny to watch you get so upset.

you really took it out on those tomatoes, but in the end, alas i was the fool.

you really sweetened in that heat and were better than i have ever known you to be.  please forgive me for laughing at you.  i had no idea that chefs have been making a reduction out of you for years.

forever your biggest fan,
chrissy

ode to purple...

much to my 10 year old daughters horror

i hate the color purple!

i am sorry if you are deeply in love with the color purple.

{no.  not the movie}

but it is not my thing.  i don.t wear it.  i don.t write with it.  i don.t paint with it.

i don.t eat purple food.  ok, that.s not entirely true...i like purple grapes.

{can you see those hearts on my shirt?  i didn.t notice that sneaky purple one that hid there amongst all the other hearts...until...i was already home with the shirt in my bag.  
but this, my dear friends, is about all the purple you will ever see on chrissy.}

so when this dear artistic british chum of mine gave her 

shout out for her creative color challenge..i was clearly not thinking when i admitted my loathing for purple. what part about "challenge" was i missing?  

of course miss louise was going to choose the color that would push my limits.  and that she did.  i bought purple paints and purple papers and 

purple wurple shmurple but nothing was working.

until
i stuck some purple thread into my 30 year old bernina nova sewing machine.

ahhhhhhhh!!! (insert trumpets and sounds of heavenly angels singing)

i started to "draw" with my needle. no rhyme or reason...just drawing.
 i think it took about 2.4 seconds for me to fall in love.
this is theraputic!  this is awesome!  this is fun!  this is creative!

oh purple i love you!
the end result was the most beautiful, swirly, freeflowing, funky purple tree that has ever been made on the face of this big ol' universe!!!

{click to see the perfectly imperfect purple stiches a tad better}

of course no tree of love is complete without a tenderly carved (or sewn) heart

declaring the adoration of the newly devoted pair

chrissy + purple

=

true 

love

forever

thanks louise for a wonderful challenge 

and thank you purple for opening a door to a splendid new art form that i clearly would not have discovered without you!

cultivate something challenging this weekend