I know you guys will totally miss me while all the supercalafragalistical magic is getting set up, so here is a book that I love. It’s one of those books that you get about four pages into, call a friend, and tell them to buy it immediately.

Good stuff.

You know what I totally forgot about?

At one point in time, I had an entire orchestra of systems that helped me get everything done. Things like content calendars,  mentors, quarterly goal assessments, a mailing list, product projections, and, um…products. It was like I had an actual business.

I’m ready to head back to that turf, ya’ll. The wizardry behind the machine. Things have changed quite a bit and it took some time to figure out what my wants are, what our needs are, but I feel pretty comfortable with what all that is now.

Within the next two weeks, I’d appreciate an extra dose of patience while I gear it all back up. It will be clumsy, of course, but you know that’s never stopped me before.

Stuff to look forward to:

• My idea of a mailing list (hint: it involves actual mail). More about that later in the week.
• A deeper look into my super awesome sponsors and how good their stuff is. Ya’ll know how picky I am, so you know it’s legit.
• Lots and lots and lots of concentration on symbolism for a bit. It’s kind of a field of expertise for me, so it serves as the perfect tool for SEO/geek stuff. After almost five years, I’m ready to, you know, actually be found in the search engines and further build the community that enjoys my work. It’s been a long haul and the loyalty you’ve all shown me is enormously humbling. Props.
• Um, did someone say web design course? Are you ready for this? Are you sure? Because I’m about to start buzzin’ that up. I think you’ll be pretty stoked.
• And I think maybe I might start makin’ stuff again. Feeling pretty good these days and my house is getting WAY too clean.

Until then, you will find me behind a really strong cup of coffee or three. I’ll be the one with crazy hair (and most likely some sort of tiara–helps me think) sorting through piles of notes.

malam dresses

peacock tattoos

 do this. trust me.

enjoy the day.

This is my girl a year ago, almost to the day.

I’ve been going through a lot of old stuff, shedding what we don’t need anymore.

Sometimes it takes my breath.

I remember this moment. It was in the morning. Anna was so enthralled with that hat – the little ball on the top. All I could see was the line of her hair and the twist of fairy in her ears. This is the period where I finally understood how drawing works. That it’s an interpretation of what you see, that you don’t have to include all the details.

With photography, I see details. With drawing, I see lines. Allow things to be big. I suck at it right now but that will change.

Everything changes.

Like a body of water, the tides shift and slide. Pulled and coaxed by the weight of the moon.

But it’s always just water, in any shape or form.

It’s just water.

Ya’ll, I am missing Montana something fierce. This is the best time of year up there and it’s reminding me of some really good old days.

So in the times before the kids, one of my favorite summertime occupations up north was to just sit outside drinking too much PBR and getting sunburned. I think you really have to understand what it’s like to be cooped up for nine months of the year in order to really get this, but trust me. Relaxing in the sunset with a good buzz and pink skin, listening to Hank III and watching the college kids cruise down the hill was one of my favorite past times on earth.

It may not be for everyone, but I sure have a soft spot in my heart for country music. It comes with the turf.

Here’s a list my friend Lacy rallied up the other night. I’d get sunburned and whiskey drunk with her any day.  Check out the kick ass dreadie crowns she makes.  Perfect for keeping your hair up so your neck can get good and red.

Playlist.

Cheers to playing lawn darts and washers, the clink of horseshoes and talk of river plans to come. Have fun out there.

So after about six weeks of untangling my jewelry from a pile on the shelf in the bathroom, I decided to finally hang this little thing up to help me organize.

And then I got all happy because I like that kind of shit. Sorting things. Making them look nice.

My friend Laura from Violet Bella / Roots and Feathers sent this gorgeous tattered gypsy flag to me in the thick of our moving process, while the kids and I were staying with family for awhile. It’s to help remind us of home, with each of the elements represented in her amazing and beautiful style. I’ve been looking for the perfect place to hang this piece, moving it around the house from here to there since we moved in back in February.

After hanging and organizing my jewelry, I realized that the perfect place would be the bathroom. Laura inspires me to take the time for beauty, especially for myself. To treat myself kindly and with grace. To say yes to standing in my best light. It makes me smile to have her right here next to me when I go through my morning makeup routine. I say yes to experimentation a little bit more that way, try new things out that might feel uncomfortable otherwise. It’s like she’s standing right there saying, “Oh yeah, girl! Go ahead!”

I love her look, so of course I listen.

I also had a pile of butterfly photos – simple images from the internet that I use for drawing studies. I just taped them up with artist’s tape so they’ll be easy to change out.

I can’t even remember the last time I did something like this.

I love remembering these parts of myself.

Check out Violet Bella if you’re looking for more amazing jewelry to organize and Roots and Feathers for your very own gypsy-ness.

No. Really.

Thought you could use a smile today. You don’t have to go full throttle every day.

Just relax. Find something simple to get you through.

favorite brekkist.

favorite coffee and favorite dude.

favorite girl and favorite shirt.

favorite familiar.

favorite place.

in flagstaff.

after seven months, we finally went back to the mountains.

I wanted to explore every other option first in order to be sure. to make sure my head was in the right place. to know that all other ideas and sensibilities had been explored first. thoroughly.

had to make sure I’d healed from the growing pains I endured here a long time ago.

I have.

it’s a really great town.

like, really great.

a great place for kids… four seasons, a ski hill, gardening, community, small, safe.

a great place for a fiber artist… so close to Four Corners, Navajo Nation, Santa Fe, Phoenix, Colorado.

we’re not jumping any hoops yet, this will take some time. the kids have been through a lot this year and we all need to stabilize for quite awhile.

but every penny they find, they put into a jar.

so that they can grow up in the mountains.

in a place where their mama can grow too.

have a great weekend, everybody.

count your blessings, feel your peace.

sometimes it’s right where you left it, the last place you’d ever think to look.

There’s this realm of comfort that starts to take hold when you stay in a place for awhile. The paths and grooves become familiar, the episodes of the days run into smooth rotations of comfort. You know what to expect, where to find the plug that will fit the empty holes.

What I like about living in the city is that this scene is under constant change.

Growing up here, I held this emptiness like a prize. Always something new to seek, to find, to experience, an endless absorption of stimulus trickling under triptastic skies.

It rained yesterday.

Washed the city clean. Stripped the skyline of the grazy haze of dusty brown, brought the steam from the tar covered translation of earth. Water reaching to water, the bottom to the top.

Rain comes on hard and fast here. It rolls in unapologetically and with great force.

A wall of wind, water, lightning, cloud.

It’s beautiful.

In the summertime, we are given a gift of heavy rotations of rain. Monsoons. This is a taste of what they’re like. A moment when the whole city takes pause, looks up, breathes in deep.

The smell is incredible. Nothing else like it on earth. A mixture of creosote, concrete, wet mesquite.

I spend a lot of time trying to figure out how and why I do things. It’s part of reflection and change, the process of upheaval as it settles in.

I see now where I get my intensity.

In a place like this, it’s the only thing that can be heard.

Ok, ya’ll.

1979.

Here’s the playlist.

I expect to see you sporting a Gunne Sax dress and platform sandles.