Entries Tagged as: Food and Drink

Connecting with My Inner Domestic Goddess

October 29th, 2009, Comments (13)

connect souppot

All the hustle and bustle of setting up in our new home has brought out my inner domestic goddess. Sometimes I'm not sure she exists. I've never been one for baking cookies or sewing curtains. I mean, I love cookies (mmm, cookies) and sewing appeals to me, but it's not been in my repertoire. The hubster enjoys cooking more than I do.

But I do have these sparks of domestic bliss. Like last week, when I pulled out this pretty blue dutch oven, found a recipe from the Barefoot Contessa, and spent an afternoon laboring over a pot of soup (it's a Mexican chicken soup.) I mean, really, look at this masterpiece! Hehe.

connect soup

Shnazzy, right? I know Martha Stewart won't be calling anytime soon (even though I was cooking in one of her pots), but I was rather proud of myself.

We've been spending a lot of time setting up the house as well. You'd think with my art skills, I'd be a great decorator, but the two things do not necessarily overlap. I'm a bit spatially challenged and find all this arranging and selecting of furnishings to be mind-boggling. But we're slowly getting things together. It's beginning to feel more homey.

And ok, I'll admit it, it's been kinda fun embracing my inner Domestic Goddess. She's not so bad. I do love freshly cleaned sheets, the look of white bowls stacked in the cupboards, and my little collection of teapots. And I'm enjoying cooking in the new kitchen (sometimes.)

My studio space is starting to come together thankfully. Books are on the shelf, art supplies are unpacked. Closet shelves are installed. I'm ready to go for Art Every Day Month!

What have you been connecting with during this month of connection?

Celebrate Yourself

July 17th, 2009, Comments (31)

underwaterteaparty
underwater tea party

Awhile back, I wrote about celebrating your creativity. Celebrating in general is something that can be challenging for many of us, myself included. For me, when I finish something, I tend to move quickly on to the next without taking the time to celebrate, but it's something I'm working on because I believe good self-care includes celebrating the good stuff, big and small, in our lives. And as it's the month of self for the Creative Every Day Challenge, I thought it was the perfect opportunity to talk about celebrating yourself! 

Today happens to be my birthday. I've always felt like my b-day is a day to do something special for myself like taking the day off to get a massage, go to a movie by myself, get taken out to my favorite restaurant, or plan a mini-trip. But you don't need to wait til your birthday to celebrate yourself. One of the simplest ways I've found to celebrate is to think about what brings me delight.

Take a moment and write down 25 - 50 (or more!) things that delight you. How can you bring more of these things into your everyday life? What things can you schedule in this week or this month?

Some things that bring me joy are: snuggling my kitties, reading good books, wandering aimlessly in a bookstore or library, laughing with the hubster, sitting by a body of water, doodling in my sketchbook, and silly socks.

As much as I love enjoying my birthday, I sometimes get a little shy when receiving gifts or compliments. But it's so good to be open to receiving love from others and from yourself. Do you ever disount someone's compliment? I used to do it all the time. Someone would say something like, "Oh, your hair looks great today!" and I'd say, "Oh, thanks, it's kinda frizzy." It makes others feel good to shower you with love, so try allowing yourself to drink it in without trying to squash it. Try simply saying, "Thank you."

How can you celebrate the wondrous person you are? If you're a bit reluctant to celebrate yourself, start small. What's one small thing you adore about yourself? Keep adding to the list.

I think the nicest way to celebrate yourself is with fabulous self care. Here are some ways to rock out with your self-care celebrations:

  • Foot rub: Treat yourself to some yummy scented lotion and rub your feet.
  • Shower Power: Spend some extra time in the shower or the bath with some scented shower gel or bath salts. Warm water feels fabulous and taking some time to take excellent care of your body is so important.
  • Good Grub: Making yourself a great meal is a wonderful way to treat yourself. Even something as simple as a slice of lemon in your water can feel fabulous.
  • Flowers: Simple, yes, but a small vase of flowers can give you such a great lift. Bring some beauty into your space and delight in it. You're totally worth it.
  • Treat yourself: Treat yourself to a massage, a pedicure, a facial, or get your hair done (I love getting my hair washed!)
  • Let Go: Let go of something that you've been holding onto that you just don't love and don't use. It feels great to let go of stuff that doesn't bring you delight.
  • Create: Write, paint, draw, get creative. Express yourself freely, just for fun, for no other reason than because you love it.
  • Move: Moving your body feels good. I used to focus on exercise as a way to stay in shape. But now I see it as self-care. I feel better when I get regular movement, from the more intense (jogging, dancing) to the more mellow (stretching, walking.)

What are your favorite ways to celebrate yourself?

A Lovely Day to Share Some Inspiration

May 3rd, 2008, Comments (7)

Last night, I started working on a new painting. It's got some very soft and summery colors going on, reminds me of a bleached out Grecian scene, which I'm enjoying thoroughly. Paint is yummy.

I've been noting some lovely stuff going on amongst the Creative Every Day Challenge folks and thought I'd pass some of it along. Sometimes there's almost too much inspiration out there! On occasion, I need to pull myself away just so that I don't spend all day looking at inspiration and not do anything with it! Well, some days it's good to be a sponge. Sometimes you do need to soak things in, fill the well. And then some days are action days, where you need to wring yourself out and see what all the various experiences, conversations, books, quotes, blog posts, art, design, nature, food, dreams and synchronicities will become when you stir them all together and create. So, are you ready to soak up some inspiration? Good, let's go.

- Jim (a new CED member) has a delicious recipe for steamed artichokes that I'm going to make this week. Artichokes are so beautiful aren't they? Jim has also joined in the May sketchbook challenge. They have a blog for it here and the pages look awesome!

-Hanna of iHanna's Creative Space moderates this awesome flickr group all about art studios! How fun is it to peek into other people's spaces?! I have a wild fascination with seeing the interiors of other people's homes. I love looking at real estate sites to look at potential future houses, but I also just love looking at how people decorate.

-Wendy has posted a video tutorial on making your own stamps.

-Have you heard about the 100 mile diet?  Magical Muse is participating in a 100 feet diet challenge! She wrote about some of the things she's making at home (sounds yummy!) There's so much creative thinking going on with challenges like this. Very cool.

- Waltraud has made the loveliest little ipod bag for her daughter. I love the colors and fabric!

For me, this morning's creativity was expressed in a pancake sampler made with the hubster. We made plain, banana, and blueberry varieties. And oh, they were delicious. :-) Hope your weekend is a wonderfully creative one!

Creative Cooking

January 24th, 2008, Comments (19)

Making a new recipe always feels creative to me. I traveled to a brand new grocery store in town and enjoyed the new signage and the fresh, clean feeling of it. Everything seemed so perfect! Every product was well stocked, all the produce looked spectacular, so much color! I enjoyed picking out fresh ingredients: cod and clams, parsley, potatoes, leeks, celery, and some pricey, but fun saffron threads. Chopping vedgies, smelling the stock cooking, tomatoes, chicken broth and clam juice. Toasting up crusty bread in the oven and hoping, hoping, hoping that it will taste good. Phew, it did! Then setting it up in the white bowls and plates, I felt like I'd made a bit of food art. Pretty enough to eat and warm-your-insides good.

Andrea mentioned today that she's enjoying the CED challenge and how it's really all about perspective. Opening our eyes to the endless ways there are to be creative, we see the opportunities every where and life becomes more rich and full. How lovely is that?

An artist I admire, Michelle Caplan, has joined in the CED challenge this week. She is doing this great collage-a-day project that she's chronicling on her blog, Collage Lab. Also be sure to check out her fantastic blog called, Creative Swoon (I love the name), which is overflowing with inspiration.