Girl Power

Reach for the stars.  Follow your dreams.  Dream big.  Be an ORIGINAL.  Be true to yourself.  These are just some of the inspirational and IMPORTANT messages I'm trying to convey in my new painting "Girl Power."   

Growing up I was never taught these things.  I was taught to settle down, don't get so loud and excited.  I was even asked why I would want to go to college, when all I really would probably be doing is getting married and having babies.  I want girls to have a different message than those limiting ones, espeically since I have a daughter of my own.  I want her to feel that she has power, the power to be what she wants, the power to follow her dreams and her heart and the power to be true to herself. 

Maybe you know a young girl who you can encourage to be herself and not always worry about what others think.  To listen to her heart.  Help her follow her deepest wishes.

Amazing Quote

I am up at 4:30 am on a day that I have off of work.  Really?  Seriously.  Yes. 

However, I'm reading some amazing blogs and just found this quote on the Daisy Yellow blog that was so vivid and inspiring I had to put it down here. 

"I want a life that sizzles and pops and makes me laugh out loud. And I don't want to get to the end, or to tomorrow, even, and realize that my life is a collection of meetings and pop cans and errands and receipts and dirty dishes. I want to eat cold tangerines and sing out loud in the car with the windows open and wear pink shoes and stay up all night laughing and paint my walls the exact color of the sky right now. I want to sleep hard on clean white sheets and throw parties and eat ripe tomatoes and read books so good they make me jump up and down, and I want my everyday to make God belly laugh, glad that he gave life to someone who loves the gift." — Shauna Niequist

Wow.  It honestly blows me away.  I need to print this out and read it EVERYDAY to remind myself to fully live my life every single moment.

I am thrilled that there are sooooo many creative and inspiring people out there sharing their lives on the blogs they've created.  When I feel discouraged, these women don't even know me and I feel encouraged, truly, by their words and experiences!  

New Painting - Sweet Sunshine

I just finished this painting and I'm pretty pleased with it.  "You are my Sunshine" is one of those songs I remember as a kid.  My friend Amy's mom used to sing it when we went on long car trips.  When I went to father-daughter Lions dinners with my dad, all the men sang it (which was pretty funny).  Then when I had Isabella I sang it to her when she was younger.  I just think it's a sweet reminder to someone of your powerful feelings for them, how much they can brighten your day, especially a child.

I'm Loving!!! Flora Bowley

Right now I'm loving, LOVING, the artist Flora Bowley.  Below is one of her new paintings.  Aren't the colors just amazing?  I truly would love to have such beautiful creative talents.  I would also love one of her beautiful, big canvases on one of my walls.  I visit her blog "Bloom True" quite often just to see if she has any new creations posted.  They just speak to me.  They wow me.  They mesmerize me.  I would love LOVE to take one of her workshops but don't know if I can swing it financially.  But, wow, would I love to be in her presence and learn from her.  For now, I guess I keep checking out her amazing paintings. 

Painting: http://florabowley.typepad.com/blog/

Cake Decorating



Every since my neighbor Mrs. Rader used to bake and decorate amazing cakes for our birthdays and communions, I've always wanted to learn how to decorate fancy cakes myself.  Well, the opportunity has arrived.  Michael's Craft Store is offering Wilton Cake Decorating classes every month.  Isabella and I are planning on taking this class together which should be a fun mother-daughter activity (I hope).  I'm really excited because I've honestly wanted to do this probably since I was about five years old.  We're planning on starting in February if all goes well.  I can't wait!

Cake image:  cakedecoratingideas.free

New Year, New Painting

It's hard to believe it is January.  The holidays were great but lazy since Shane had off too.  We took lots of naps, saw a few movies, played some games and ate lots of good food.  One of the big things I started working on is organizing our office a bit better.  It's always been pretty cluttered because I'm a saver--of sentimental things, like Bella's cute little drawings of us with big belly buttons and little scraps of paper with notes on them.  It's hard to find a place for everything and everything in it's place like they say, when you are a bit of a "collector" in a sense. 

But I want to get it more organized so I can also use it as a painting studio as well since so much of my creating is spread out in the kitchen which makes for a choatic mess at times.  I would actually love a separate room altogether for my painting, but we just don't have any more spare rooms in the house.  So sharing with the office will have to do for now. 

Aside from organization, getting in shape is a top priority this year.  We bought a recumbent exercise bike at the beginning of December and I'm vowing to use it at least five days a week.  So far, so good.  It's near the living room and we got an i-pod so I can listen to music and make it a bit easier to do, unlike when I used to go on the treadmill in the basement, no music, no tv, only staring at the wall and surrounding cobwebs. 

Lastly, here's a recent painting I did that says, "Dream with me."  I"ve always been a daydreamer ever since I can remember and this statement speaks to me as well as the lazy kite on a cheery summer day.  Yes, I'm already looking forward to warmer weather.  Oh, one of the possible resolutions that crossed my mind was to actually accept that I live in Wisconsin and accept that it will be cold and gloomy through March.  Not sure if I'm going to dive into that one though--that's even harder than regular exercising for me!  Anyway, I hope to make it an even better year this year!

Nutcracker

Yesterday we went to the Nutcracker with the Milwaukee Ballet.  I absolutely loved it.  I felt like I was in a dream.  The costumes, the set, the ballerinas and the amazing music.  I kept wanting to close my eyes and get lost in the music, but then I realized I'd miss the show.  We were third row, right behind the orchestra, the best seats I've ever had.  It was my second time there, but our daughter's first.  I was so excited to take her because she's been dancing since she was four.  Well....she liked it but didn't love it she said.  I was a bit disappointed to hear that for sure, but I still think it was a special holiday experience to share with her.  We'll see if next year she has any interest, but I won't push it.  But I sure did love it myself.  I guess the little girl in me who wanted to be a ballerina or an ice skater is still drawn to this.

Photo:  Milwaukee Ballet website