friday i'm in love (the restricted edition)...

Oh. That sounded kinda…
inappropriate….heh….
maybe I should have said
the restrictions edition…

It’s Friday night and
I have spend a quiet night
with Iris-the-laptop
editing photos and
going down the
virtual rabbit hole of
heated hair wraps
and drool-worthy artist studios
and listening to
new-to-me music
while eating popcorn
and drinking
caffeine free diet coke
though after today’s debacle
with the amount of sugar
I accidentally ingested,
I realize caffeine may be the
least of my worries. Heh.

Anyway….on to the Friday links of love! ♥

FRIDAY I’M IN LOVE:

• THIS. Partly because I have a dad that texts like this.
  and it makes my heart warm & fuzzy every time I
  get a text that ends with “love you. bye-bye.”

• I know I don’t leave the island much or when I do
  I don’t go too far, but THIS makes me wanna
  pack my suitcase and go exploring.

• THIS adorable artist….

• I know THIS is not a new movie but if you
  haven’t seen it, you totally should. I sobbed
  at one point…or maybe 2 points…it was
  sooooooo good.

• Maybe I’m just feeling a little sappy but
  I feel like I kinda need THIS.

(captain’s log::day three of temporary restrictions complete)

today was....

a scheduled power outage…

being woken up at 5 am
by a loud bang
and jolting up
in bed thinking
”that’s it. this is obviously
when the furnace blows up.”
(even though there is
no reason at all for me to
think that, it’s just immediately
where my brain goes
instead of to whatever
badassery the FOUR cats
of the house may gotten into
which was exactly the case
as they knocked over the cat tree
again.)

a dentist appointment that I
KNEW I was getting a filling at,
which makes it the worst kind of
appointment because I KNOW it means
a needle. But as usual, they were super sweet
and super understanding and I only
cried a little bit…silently…hahahaha….

buying myself the cutest little
bear/owl/fox mugs & plates
as a reward for said dentist appointment…
yeah, ok…I cried…
but I still WENT so that is
worthy of a cute little bear reward
(AND they were only 94 cents…
NOTHING is ever 94 cents anymore!)

an amazing supper supplied
by chef’s plate
and prepared by chef emma
and fully enjoyed by me!
Seriously soooooo good!

This one was
Thai inspired
chicken spring roll bowls….
mmmmmmmmm.
that chicken!
Soooo good!
This one was definitely a hit.

a little bit of yoga…

I hope that your Thursday was super sweet…
we are one day closer to the weekend! ♥

(captain’s log::day two of temporary restrictions complete)

tuesday truths...pollyanna-positivity warning ahead...

in an effort to
look at the bright side
of the bubble,
i was thinking that
if more restrictions
HAVE to happen,
i guess january is
better than july.

(i also realize it’s easier
for me to say this
lightly
because i know that
i am not nearly affected as others…
my kids are older,
my work is not terribly affected,
my family are all on the island…
even if i can’t see them
right now
i have seen them recently…
and as of yet,
we have all been lucky.)

(the truth of what others
are facing or have faced
is not lost on me.)

but also in a fit of my usual
pollyanna-positivity
i made myself a list of what i
could do for the rest of january.

• yoga

• meditate

• go through my clothes & purge

• draw

• read books and books

• paint

• experiment with the art supplies i never even opened

• zoom call a friend or two

• chefs plate meals

• plan a bathroom reno

• find 2 screwdrivers and a hammer & make that damn bookshelf

• go for a solo hike

• go for a solo drive & ramble some country roads

• write a short story

• sort and purge photos

• finish atypical

• start yellowstone

• plan my garden

• read some poetry

• social media detox

• write a letter to someone

• color my hair something new

• take an online course

• focus only on positive things; avoid negativity

• vision board

and blog, of course.

so that’s the plan
for january
in the big orange house…
♥♥♥♥♥

thinking out loud...

how are you getting along?
i mean, really?
are you ok?
i hope that you are….that you have someone to talk to
and someone to hug you tight…
and someone who makes you laugh really hard
and that you have lots of food to eat…
and that you are taking a break from
the bad stuff on the tv and social media.

here's how it’s been in the big orange house:

• trying to keep my regular bedtime/morning routines

• a lot of “hair jammed into a messy bun” & leggings/pjs

• i don’t normally take baths because i can’t justify the cost of
  filling that giant tub…but i have been making an exception…
  while using epsom salts, playing music and
  drinking ginger ale out of a fancy glass.

• spending at least half an hour on yoga every day…have been
  doing yoga with adriene - Home (30 days)

• reading my stockpile of books (I can’t wait to tell you about 2 of them!!)

• writing a little bit in a journal every morning

• getting outside every day, even if just for 15 minutes

• snuggling the cat

• watching/listening to a LOT of damien rice…i am not going to lie
  I may have developed a small obsession here….this is on the
  daily playlist

• NOT tracking my eating

• daydreaming about planting a giant garden

• working on new paintings (coming soon!)

• watching star wars, marvel series & movies (on agent carter now), renting the
  occasional movie as a treat (thinking this might be up next)

• eating a lot of peanut butter…and drinking a lot of diet coke…

• making plans to do things, but then losing whole days to
  music, books and movies….and not really feeling that bad about it.

• feeding the birds & getting very excited when I see one…

this guy makes it very hard to work…but also, gives me lots of cuddles…

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sweet sundays...

I always love Sundays…
especially slow, quiet, sunny sundays.
Blue sky.
No wind.
Birds singing, snow melting..
sounds of spring.

It is a little hard to stay positive right now.
People are stressed out, people are scared.
It’s hard to avoid the news, the fear,
the negativity…
and every time I turn around there is a Facebook post
shaming people for this, judging people for that,
jumping to assumptions, snapping photos of people to shame online
without even knowing their story,
spreading anger, fear, outrage, panic, and hurtful, possibly harmful misinformation.

It’s hard to stay positive right now.

But I went for an hour long walk today
and yes, as I met people, we moved away from each other,
giving a wide berth to pass
but we also called out things like
”Beautiful day, eh?” and “Nice to see that sun!”

and then I came home and saw little purple flowers
growing in the front yard.

There was a bbq happening on the front deck
and the kids across the street played badminton
in the middle of the road. Our neighbors
washed their cars, people waved as they walked by
with their dogs and chickadees landed
right outside my window.

And I reminded myself that I have to stop letting
the manic-panic parts of the pandemic
get to me.
I can’t control how other people respond,
but I can control what I allow in,
what I allow myself to absorb
and I am choosing right now to find
stillness and sweetness in silence,
to sit in the sunny spot on the deck with a book…
to write in a journal, watch a good movie,
start seeds for my garden, check in with friends & family,
to not only find calm for myself but to try to be
a bright spot in someone else’s day if I can…
share a funny story,
talk about books i am loving,
post photos of pugs with snaggletooth smiles…

This is not at all what I meant to write here today.
But, honestly, I feel a little bit better now that I did.
I hope you do, too.
big virtual hugs, you. ♥
we got this.