feast of words

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I love the world wide web and the way it opens up opportunity for connection, the ability to interact with people all the way across the world, and the never ending journey it takes you on.  However I have been craving in person connection.

Sitting down across the table from someone

Looking into their eyes

Hearing the sound of their voice

Sharing with one another, together

So I have taken a very brave step and am hosting an in person gathering with my aunt;

Feast of Words

It will be an evening gathered around the table breaking bread, toasting with a glass of wine, and releasing our fears about writing.  We will leave those fears on the table after dinner and settle in to write.  I will be guiding the small group into how to begin writing your story.  Every one has a story to tell and we will begin writing ours that night.  You don't have to think you are a writer to be a part of this evening.  If you make a grocery list, write you name, or fill out a birthday card for a friend then you my dear can begin to write your story.

I am excited about this evening and can feel in my heart how heartwarming and tender it is going to be. I am looking forward to being in a room with individuals and sharing pieces of our heart.  It is going to be so good.

With any brave step we take though, moments of fear jump in.  I am nervous that no one will sign up.  But I am not going to let that stop me.  The night is planned and my aunt and I are ready to go.

If you are interested in joining please head on over

here

for the details and to sign up.  And if you know someone in the Mahwah NJ area please feel free to share this event with them.  It is going to be such a lovely evening!  

Love Notes Presents

:: Feast of Words ::

A night of delicious food and writing to uncover your story!

When:

 Saturday, April 27th

Time:

 5:30 pm - 9 pm

Where: 

 The comfort of my home in Mahwah, NJ

Included:

  Dinner, wine, and a night of writing

Price:

  $45.00

letters across the miles

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Dear Kristine

,

Tuesday came and went.  After getting out of work from the restaurant last night I was lying in bed and it hit me, "oh my goodness, I never wrote my letter."  These past few days have flown by in a thick haze.  Holiday weekends tend to do that to me.

It was wonderful spending time with family over the weekend.  I have a very large extended family.  My father is one of eleven --- therefore there are many aunts, uncles, and cousins in the mix.  We have entered a new phase of life where my brothers and cousins have children of their own.  There are six new little ones in the family and as I was sitting at my Uncles house on Easter Sunday I was taken aback by this new generation that was just starting their life.  It feels like only yesterday that my cousins and I were kids and now here they are having kids of their own.

It is great fun having this new generation around.  Holidays have a new sparkle to them.  And seeing my cousins and brothers as parents is mind blowing.  It makes me wonder how I am going to be when I have children of my own.  It is also neat to watch how their children interact with one another; new relationships and connections forming.  My hope is that they even though they aren't "cousins" that they grow up to have the relationship that my cousins and I had growing up and still have today.  Sleepovers, parties, cousin's nights, hanging out together, knowing that no matter what we are family.

I love reminiscing with my family about times past.  Whenever my brothers and I go back in time tears are always rolling down my face from laughing so hard.  Those are the moments that this life is all about.  Connecting, laughing, and being in the moment.

Spring is here and it makes me happy.  I am looking forward to when the sun is shining brightly and I can wear my flip-flops without my toes freezing.  You have me thinking about what I want to do this Spring that I have never done before.  Hmmm, that is a really great question.  I am not sure.

There are many things that I have done before that I am looking forward to.... feeding the ducks, sitting outside on my porch at night with a good book and a glass of wine, walking with Dustin, going to the park with my niece, wishing on stars, nights around the fire, planting herbs, and grilled bbq chicken.  During this time of year I spend as much time outside as possible.  What is on your Spring/Summer Bucket list?

Wishing you a wonderful week!      

xo

Jennifer

{04}

guest post: Elizabeth Kenney :: My Mother Taught Me ::

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photo credit: Elizabeth Kenney

:: I invite you to sit down with a cup of tea and soak in these heart warming words from

Elizabeth Kenney

who has participated in the Love Notes Post Card Project twice.  At first she wasn't to happy with the second writing prompt that I sent out, but boldly she worked through it.  I love how she seeked out the good and how she let the page catch her words. Through writing bring light to things we may have tucked away or never really wanted to look at to begin with.  Elizabeth dove in and was able to find beauty.  I love this! ::

I signed up for the Love Notes project on a whim and this is my second round participating.  Professionally, I'm a textile designer and love how it gets me out of my normal creative groove and connecting with strangers in a caring, giving way that also helps me find surprising places inside myself I didn't know where hiding there.  I look forward to each new prompt and love 'letting myself go' artistically speaking while making each note, imagining the smiles it will bring on the other end. 

I was excited to see what Jennifer's second prompt would be but completely froze with apprehension when I read it.  It was titled 'What My Mother Taught Me' and asked us to share wisdom we've gleaned from our mothers.  Her examples were all so lovely and positive and all I could think about was how my mother and I were at odds.  In fact, I was furious with her at the moment.  My mom has had a difficult life and always done her best to be a good mother.  That said, it's not always been easy being her daughter and I've spent much of my adult life trying to come to terms with our relationship.  We are different in myriad ways yet there are the nagging similarities that will always be there (even if I hate to admit it!)

I took a deep breath and thought how life has a way of bringing you exactly what you need in the moment.  As frustrated as I was, I look out the backyard window and thought, in every person, in each relationship, we can always find something good if we seek it.  I considered what my mother does well - her beautiful garden - and how much growing things in the earth means to me.  It's a love I share with my own daughter as we explore the backyard eating warm, sweet raspberries on summer days and she squeals with delight, her chubby fingers pulling worms from the soil. 

I pictured my mother's hands, slender, and my own, more sturdy, and considered how regardless whose hands work the ground, if its done with love, beautiful things will grow.  Each seedling may look different as it sprouts but like us, they come from a mother fruit.  It took a moment to write the poem and in creating the whimsical drawings to go with it, I travelled full circle with my feelings and realized I am a separate, beautiful person in the image of my mother yet very much rooted in my own life.  One of the best things I can hope is for my own daughter to grow and flourish and one day, perhaps, she'll look out her own back window and think of me, with love. 

Elizabeth and her family live and garden in Brooklyn, NY where she designs fabrics inspired by what grows there.  You can see her work at

http://www.

elizabethkenneystudio.com/

unexpected moments

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Its the unexpected moments that take my breathe away
Lift me up
And make me appreciate how beautiful this life I am living really is

The sound of her voice as she yells; "bye aunt jenny" from across the street
Running into a friend I haven't seen in a long while and hearing how fantastic she is doing
Seeing an image pop up in my instagram feed of the article I wrote for Somerset Life

These moments happen when I least expect them
They change the course of my day
Infusing me with gratitude and inspiring me to keep moving forward

loving...

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These days I am loving . . .

::  The sun shining bright on my drive home from work
::  Spending time with Dustin  ---  laughing, dreaming, scheming
::  Seeing my words in print.  It will be in bookstores soon!
:: Watching all the goodness that is unfolding through the Love Notes Post Card project and hearing stories like this one and this one
::  Listening to my niece sing this song  --- she is four
::  Artsyvilles' new goodie boxes filled with color and artsyville love.  I have seen them in person and they are delightful. 
::  Lisa's new work over in the Happy Mama Shop  Perfect for any room in the house. 
::  The simple pleasures in life, like hearing the birdies chirping in the morning

What are yo loving these days?