drawing with light

life magazine had some photos posted on their website of picasso drawing with light. what i love is that even while moving around a flashlight type thing in mid air his works look picasso-ish. not that i'm an art critic or anything

(i've totally only taken a basic art history course :)

i just thought they were way cool. next fourth of july i'm definitely going to do more with my sparklers.

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i've decided that i'm looking forward to getting old and taking long walks with my husband...while holding hands of course :)

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how dare dad say no!

'you do not cross a child who wants to go to the beach...'

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mouton

ce mouton me rappelle de mon neveu.

it's not complaining...it's ranting!!!

1. every now and then i unsuspectingly grab a spoon that has been damaged in the disposal. my late night pudding snack is then ruined by the injurious spoon.

2. the older i get the smaller the world becomes...not always in a good way.

3. jeans that fit perfectly out of the wash and then within 60 minutes of wear are way too baggy. uh, whats the deal?

4. forgetting to set the timer while baking cookies resulting in crunchy cookies...what a waste!

5. bad circulation...purple-ish feet is not quite the look i'm going for :)

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jackson familia

today five years ago dustinn and valery got married!!!! woot woot!

love you jacksons :)

next sunday...?

so over the years i've accumulated a few dresses that i'll wear to church. those without sleeves i typically throw a cardigan over. it works.

this pic below however works oh so much better...

i love that she threw a grey cardigan over it. i don't know where it came from but i have an unhealthy addiction to that heathery grey color. so i'm making a commitment. i am going to wear a grey cardigan belted over one of my dresses to church on sunday, may 2nd. and try to feel confident not foolish :)

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who wants to be a single lady?

ice cream how i LOVE thee.

lately i've become somewhat of an ice cream addict. sometimes i'll even just decide to eat ice cream for dinner...straight out of the carton...with a fork of course.

my amazing friend lamia introduced me to haagen-dazs five ice cream. their chocolate ice cream only has five ingredients - skim milk, cream, sugar, egg yolks and cocoa. cool yeah?

of course me being a glutten i went one step further and picked up the chocolate peanut butter flavor. a few more than five ingredients but still not too bad - cream, skim milk, sugar, peanut butter (peanuts, peanut oil, sugar, salt), egg yolks, chocolate and cocoa.

did i mention that there are huge swirls of peanut butter mixed through out? yeah it's pretty good.

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this strange unwelcomed guest

pain stayed so long i said to him today,

"i will not have you with me any more."

i stamped my foot and said, "be on your way"

and paused there, startled at the look he wore.

"i, who have been your friend," he said to me,

"i, who have been your teacher-all you know

of understanding love, of sympathy,

and patience, i have taught you. shall i go?"

he spoke the truth, this strange unwelcomed guest;

i watched him leave, and knew that he was wise.

he left a heart grown tender in my breast,

he left a far, clear vision in my eyes.

i dried my tears, and lifted up a song-

even for one who'd tortured me so long.

-author unknown

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buddhist

a mix for bunny hair

the lyrics on this are hilariously depressing. love it :)

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life's catalog of a thousand kinds of sorrow

one aspect of yoga that i love is how accepting people can be. now you won't find this everywhere unfortunately, however my greatest yoga experiences have come from teachers that help you to feel powerful, unique and loved everytime you come to class.

although it's difficult to remember, i'm consistently trying to keep that idea in mind...help those i come in contact with (in every aspect of life) to feel powerful, unique and loved.

i'm working on it. and as i'm working on it i've come across some inspiring readings, quotes etc:

'always be kind, for everyone is fighting a hard battle.' plato

'lots of people on your right hand and on your left are carrying bumps and bruises that they hope will be healed and made whole. someone you know is carrying a spiritual or physical or emotional burden of some sort, or some other affliction drawn from life's catalog of a thousand kinds of sorrow. in the spirit of Christ, jump into this work. help people. heal old wounds and try to make things better' elder jeffrey r. holland

'when we finally begin to really "see" each other, to honor, respect and revere what each of us has to offer and who each of us really is, and to allow others to fulfill the piece that we were not meant to fulfill ourselves, then we can more easily leave any fear behind and begin to come together as a whole.' karen bishop

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pics for my nephew

rawr!!!

mmmm...yum.

oh yeah...

snuggles!!!

delish!!

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mylifeisaverage.com

Today, I was driving down a road in a subdivision in our neighborhood. There was a house that appeared to be cleaning out their garage. They had a giant pile of boxes out by the road. I didn't think much of it until I noticed a sign that read FREE BOX FORT. And in fine print it said "some assembly required" Never have I ever wanted to build a fort more than I do now. MLIA.

I used to live across the street from this guy who wasn't very nice. My siblings and I would always look out for him when leaving the house and we just generally tried to avoid him. The other day I found that his name is actually Tom Riddle. I understand completely now. MLIA

Today, I realized that every time I get injured I measure it's severity by asking myself "Would this stop me from going to Disneyland?" MLIA

Today, my 5 year old cousin told me that mustard makes his brain angry. MLIA

match.com

my good friend teresa met her husband on an internet dating site...i'm not quite there yet. however if i found myself in the scenario below i just might be smitten :)

just a day at the park

spring has been teasing me. we had a few really nice days in march then a week or so with tons of snow. saturday was gorgeous though so i took myself to the park. stocked up with magazines, a book, couple of treats and my water bottle.

unfortunately i was a wee bit lonely. i kept imagining that niece and nephew were there to play with. or lamia, jessica, duard and i were back together tossing the football and picnicing. also it's a little weird to doze by yourself. so i guess i need to find a park buddy. any takers?

and of course i took a solo shoe shot just for old times sakes :)

cravate

mon frère aime cravates simples.

red hot and blues

every now and then i try to eat a wee bit healthier (in other words cut down the sugar intake). my favorite healthy snack that i always come back to is cottage cheese and the red, hot and blues tortilla chips pictured above. they are muy picoso and then tempered with the cottage cheese it's a perfect combo. both can generally be found at your local grocery store (however it's best to buy the chips when on sale).

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dressing up babia

so i'm very much looking forward to swimming with niece and nephew this may in texas!! now as much fun as it is dress up the nephew in little swim trunks, girlie swimsuits just are cuter. now i know my sister has adorable suits lined up already but i could help browsing old navy's website just to see what was offered :)

totally reminds me of the adult sized suit

i lusted after awhile back (link).

well there are ruffles where her baby chunk legs come out...

uh yes please.

this suit also comes in yellow but in pink it's so ballerina-esque which is so so so girlie!!! love it.

burn it down

a few years ago my besties jessica, lamia and i spent hours helping lamia's mom sort through boxes and boxes of paper. we saved necessary documents and piled up everything else. in retrospect what happened next wasn't very environmentally friendly...oh well.

we took the boxes up to my parent's cabin and began to burn everything in the fire pit. lamia's mom said it felt so good to have that weight lifted off her shoulders, crossed off her list, no longer on her mind. we burned old bank statements, check books, utility bills, the list goes on.

with my yoga teacher training i've gotten to practice a lot of meditation...which is amazing.

the other day i was walked through a scenario where i started out in my mental refuge (if you don't have one yet you should get one whether it's an exotic beach, your favorite city, the mountains, etc...because EVERYONE needs an escape).

she had me walk up a hill until i came to a clearing. then asked me to walk around and find anything that i've been unnecessarily holding onto. gather any past experiences/events/confrontations/

disappointments/self doubts/etc. that are no longer useful to me and bring them to the middle of the clearing. make sure you have carefully looked around and gathered everything you can find.

next pick up a container of gasoline and pour it all over the pile. take a match. light the match. burn the pile. watch everything burn.

notice the brightness of the fire. listen to the crackling as everything burns. can you smell the fire?

it took me awhile for the fire to burn down. make sure to stay until everything is ash. don't let anything remain behind. a slight wind comes and even the ash is blown away.

take a deep inhale and then slowly exhale.

all those things we unnecessarily hold on to in life...yes they contribute to the people we are but once they've served their purpose, once we've grown and lived through them, we must let them go.

walk away from the clearing feeling lighter, happier, carefree :)

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lincoln does it again

love the fact that it makes you feel like the car is going to

take off...the music helps :)

le converse

i am addicted to chucks or as the french say, 'le converse'.

i know some people say they don't provide adequate support for your feet however i've never come across that problem. besides did you know that wearing overly supportive shoes will cause you to not develop the balance and muscular support that we naturally need? just another plug for yoga :)

i love that converse are always the same. get a new pair in your size and it will fit just like your previous ones. plus they come in a myriad of colors and hey...they're way cool.

now i had the fortunate/unfortunate experience of visiting multiple converse stores in taiwan. and yes i was spoiled. color combinations that i could only dream of were available to me at half the price of converse in the us. oh to visit taichung just one more time for the shopping alone!

well today i was browsing at delias.com checking out the converse available and was enamoured with the above...especially the sky blue color. and i'm not sure i'd go for the slip ons but the spray painted laces are definitely a nice touch :)

yes, i do.

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good good good good sensations

in the movie, le fabuleux destin d'amelie poulain, amelie introduces characters by saying their likes and dislikes. for example her mother likes cleaning out her purse and then replacing everything however she dislikes pruned fingers from taking a bath. amelie is shown below about to crack into creme brulee...one of her likes.

here are some of my personal likes that i've noticed lately...or always:

laying in the bathtub as the water drains...your body feels heavier and heavier and heavier.

drinking hot chocolate and the warmth in your belly afterwards.

the tightness of your skin just after washing your face.

eating the melty edges of ice cream.

holding a sleeping baby on your chest (if it's niece or nephew even better).

cooking grilled cheese or egg-on-bread so that it's really really crispy...the key is lots o' butter.

there may not be an actual difference but after filling up the car with gas or an oil change i swear it drives better (most likely this is just peace of mind).

slipping into a made bed with clean sheets.

sucking on a cinnamon altoid.

et vous?

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my day(dream) in paris

sometimes i like to pretend that i'm in paris for a day and what i'd do. don't worry...there isn't any rush to see things because these visits happen quite frequently :)

unfortunately it's rainy in paris today so i'll make sure to take my umbrella as i head out. first i'll hit up a patisserie for une tarte framboisse and a demi baguette to snack on later. since it's a rainy spring day i think i'll visit musee marmottan to see the degas stashed in the basement. walk the edges of ile saint-louis. stop at a small market to get some ripe fruit, maybe a pear today, and some camembert cheese to eat with my baguette. sit for awhile watching people and the river seine. if i'm yearning for something sweet (which i always am) stop at the italian gelato shop and get scoop of nutella ice cream. maybe i'll go to pere lachaise cemetery and wander...seems an appropriate activity for a rainy day. finally i'll end my day eating poulet et frites at le quasimodo near notre dame cathedral. i'll make sure to get a table under the awning so i can watch paris transition into night.

i miss you paris but i'll be back again soon :)

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