braving the blues

This winter has been mild.  No snow and 50 degree weather.  I was prepared to bundle up and hunker down.  I had a plan in place to help me get through the bitter cold and so far I haven't had to dig much into it.  Rather the bright sunshine and warmer weather has gently invited me outside to play.  I have gone for long walks, laced up my running sneakers, and enjoyed many moments outside in the brilliant sunshine.  

We are over the hump of the darkness and as each day passes we are given just a little bit more day light.  I know we have all of January, February, and March ahead but here on the East Coast I am stepping into 2015 feeling happy and filled with gratitude.  Usually by now I am dragged down and depressed but this year joy has infused my heart and opened up my eyes t the goodness that swirls around.  

I have been braving the blues with each choice I make.  Choosing the gym over the couch.  Going swimming on Friday nights.  Lacing up my sneakers and getting outside for a run.  Taking time to create.  And nourishing my body with vegetables and juices.  I am choosing to navigate my own path and find my own way to happiness.  I will not allow the weather to get me down, instead I will create my own sunshine.  

How have you been fairing this winter?  What have you done to brave the blues?  How do you feel stepping into 2015?

2014 Video Moments

2014 was filled with so much goodness.  Above are a some of the highlights including time spent with family, lots of love and laughter, challenges, and big accomplishments.  It was a year dedicated to training for the NYC Marathon and celebrating with family and friends when I crossed the finish line. It was a very good year!  

traditions

The past few days have been filled with celebration, family, laughter, and lots of fun.  Presents have been unwrapped, love has been shared, and joy and gratitude has filled my heart.  I am so grateful for my family and the way we come together to celebrate.  

As the year comes a close I will be taking the time to reflect on what was and open my heart to what will be.  I have a  few traditions that I carry out each year and this year I will dig into them again.  Some of them are:

Photo Look Back
I take many photos but rarely print them out.  They are all housed inside of my computer.  At the end of the year I carve out an hour or two to sit down and go through my entire year of photos.  I start with January and work all the way up to December.  Memories resurface and the simple every day moments that I took with my iPhone get savored again.  I love these photos because they are a true reflection of the life I live every day. 

Mondo Beyondo List
This tradition was brought into my life by the wonderful Andrea Scher.  At the beginning of each year I sit down for ten minutes and write down all of my wildest and craziest dreams that I would like to come true as well as the little things that have been nudging my heart.  As soon as I start my timer I don't let my hand stop writing until it dings ten minutes later.  It is interesting to see what spills out.  Dreams come up that I didn't even realize I had.  

Once my new list is written I go back and take a look at previous years to see what has come true or what has been written again.  I love having these yearly list to go back through.  Sometimes it takes years for a dream to come true but the simple act of writing it down plants the seed.

Collaging How I Want to Feel
I have always been drawn to collage.  For years I have been ripping images out of magazines and gluing them down. Some of my early collages have been framed and hang in my kitchen today.  What I love about collage is the freedom.  As I go through magazines I rip out the images I am drawn to; the ones that make me feel good for one reason or another.  Then I lay them all out and start gluing them down sporadically.  There is no rhyme or reason for where they end up, just a feeling.  Sometimes one page becomes two and other times I love the way they fit together so much that I pull it out of my notebook and frame it.   These visual pages are a reflection of feelings deep from my heart.  

I am big on traditions.  They are a touchstone in my life and a reminder for me to slow down and savor the passing of time.  The three above are just a few that I practice.  What traditions do you have?  How do you savor and celebrate the passing of time?

I believe

One of the things I love most about Christmas is the magic.  Seeing the wonder and delight in a child's eye fills my heart with hope and love.  I am reminded of the good in the world and what could happen when we believe in something.

I believed in Santa Claus for a long time.  Even though I don't remember how old I was when I stopped believing I remember how it all went down.  Each year my brothers and I would write letters to Santa and leave them on our dressers.  When we were safely nestled into bed the jolly old man would come in and scoop them up, or so we thought.  

The year I was on the fence about Santa I went through with writing my letter as usual and left it on my dresser.  The one thing I didn't do that I normally did was tell my parents that the letter was there.  This was my test.  When I went to bed that night I secretly wished the letter would be gone in the morning but had a feeling that it wasn't going to be.  

Just as I suspected upon waking the letter was still there.  There was no Santa Claus after all.  Knowing this was upsetting but it didn't squash my hope.  I still loved the idea of believing and the wonderment and awe that filled the days around the holiday.  

Today that joy of wonderment is still with me as I watch my nieces believe.  It lights me up to see the delight and excitement in those little girls eyes.  Having kids around during the holidays brings a whole new dimension of joy to the holiday spirit.

I may not believe in Santa any more, but I do believe that there is power in hope and coming together.  I believe that when we choose love we find a joyful path.  I believe that family and friends are what matters most in this world and that above all else we must choose kindness.  I believe that there is joy to unearth in the every day and that we must appreciate these little moment.  When I choose to believe in something I know that my heart opens up a little bit more and that is needed in this world.  

What do you believe in?  What gives you hope, lights you up and opens you up?   

fabric dolls :: handmade christmas

Last year I saw this adorable fabric doll pattern from Make It & Love It.  I had just begun my exploration of the sewing machine as I was tasked to continue the family tradition of handmade stockings that my grandmother had begun.  Unfortunately due to lack of time and the chaos that becomes the holidays I was unable try my hands at creating the doll.  

When this year rolled around I remembered the pattern and knew I just had to give it a try.  I wasn't sure how it would turn out as my knowledge of a sewing machine was minimal but I knew it would be a great project to help me brave the blues.  So I dug in. 

This was a great project for a beginner like me.  There is nothing to complicated and it is so satisfying to see something come to life.  

I became and expert at filling a bobbin and threading my sewing machine.  I was able to switch out my threads in a flash thanks to the help of my trusty side kicked who showed me how to do it and sewed his very first piece of fabric together.   It was exciting to learn something new.

I had intended to make the dolls each with different clothing, but there were some mishaps along the way and beginner mistakes of not choosing the proper fabric.  Legs and arms ended up never finding a body and a misfit doll had a face that just didn't seem right.  

Along the way I celebrate the small moments like seeing shoes on the feet.  I was sewing, yes I was sewing.  And in the end it all came together.  I had two adorable dolls made with love for my two nieces.  

am so glad I took the risk and gave this project a try even without much knowledge of sewing.  It was fun to do and even more fun to see the two little girls hug their dolls.  I am looking forward to creating more with my sewing machine.  

winter solstice

Happy winter solstice to you and yours.  Today we welcome back the light and celebrate a little bit more sunshine filling our days.  For this I am grateful.