sweet indigo life

I'm off for *two weeks* of wild abandon!

Today, today I feel like a nut!

Feeling stretched! 

Stressed! 

Taking a wee break, I'll come back after NY (in two weeks) with some fresh photos, ideas, philosophies, and recipes!  Feedback on the Turkey Fajita Casserole? For those that made it did you love it?

If I owe you a visit, know that I love you and haven't been by due to that little thing called LIFE. 

Here are a few links to make you happy while I'm gone;

A Mad Tea Party is happening.  Go sign up, it'll be a hoot!! Miss. Vanessa, will be your gracious hostess!

The same woman, the divine Miss.Vanessa has a new blog!! It's gorgeous!!! Through the Secret Keyhole, go peek.

A sweet dessert I'm whipping up next weekend to go with the salad and hamburgers.

That glorious Glitter Girl is back in her new digs of southern Florida, check out our rich, wealthy, mojito-mixing mamma at An Aries Gypsy!

Memory.  Seriously this gal was nervous at the start but kicked serious butt in this performance. I adore her!

Oh I'm so in the mood for a wedding this year!!!

Love to you all, don't let the turkeys get you down.  Slow down and breathe.  Expect great things.  You deserve GREAT things.  Pay attention to your surroundings.  Drink in your life.  Love it.  Say sorry to someone.  Make sure you mean it.  Fix what you've done wrong.  Encourage.  Hug.  Hug.  Hug.  Hug.  Hug.  And hug some more.  Hugs matter.  The world, our children in particular, don't stand a chance without them.  If you hug someone and they pull away that just means they needed it.  Funny huh?

xoxo

Leave me some cool links to surf if I get bored!!! LOL

p.s.  I'm back just quick....here's my FAVOURITE SONG RIGHT NOW!!!! Enjoy xo

Why walk~when you can F L Y~~~?

 

Who wouldn't want to join in the fun of this?  Happy Bench Monday, to all.  If you are on flickr, get over there and join the fun.  It's a blast!!

I'm waiting to hear back on an offer.  I put an offer on a home.  I like it, so keep me in your thoughts today that it will be accepted!  :)

Dad is on the mend.  Mum and Dad are liking the time off together.  Life is good. 

I shopped at a new grocery store today.  Bought a bag of potatoes.  Opened them up to put in the potato bin when I returned home to find that half of them were green, or rotten.  So tell me, if the point to buying an entire bag is to save money, then why do they ship off half rotten bags of taters?  Tell me!  Hmmm??? I guess life is like a bag of potatoes.  Despite the choices we make in earnest, sometimes we are handed a rotten potato.  How we handle said potato, speaks volumes about our character.  LOL!~

Julian is not eagerly anticipating my trip to NYC.  Oh don't get me wrong, he is very happy and supportive of me going.  He is just so in love with me that once (after eighteen long, arduous years) he proposed to me last July, he can't stand it when I go away.  He walks about the house, singing THIS.  :)  (What do you expect from a friend of the ROH?  He's a music man.  He's planning to run away with Garancha if anything happens between us! ;)

Okay.  Gotta go.  Meals to plan, agents to chat with, nails to bite.  :) 

Phone calls to friends to make.

xo

Have a most LOVELY week, xo!!!

I love weekends! Don't you? Have yourself a great one...!

 

Some fresh flowers, for you!  Enjoy them.  There is lots of blue around here lately I've noticed. Hence the blog name I suppose!  We all need a little blue every now and then. 

 :)

This weekend I'm going on a long walk (or two with my friend Louise!) with a friend...gardening....cooking...eating burgers!....reading....watching movies.......playing with my kids....and packing!  We are moving soon.  We don't have a house yet, still currently looking, but I'm going to start packing anyway.  That ought to attract a new house in, don't you think? Gypsy Girl Alex recommends an awesome flick, let me know if you go see it!

Whatever you do this weekend do it with your full attention and LOVE.

That's all I ask! :)

What are YOU doing this weekend?  Wishing you all the happiness your hearts can hold....and last but not least...

Add to your read list "A Cup of Jo" from my sidebar, Joanna is lovely! (Chock full of wedding ideas right now, something I can relate to.)  Go meet a new friend!! xo

xo

We are all sweetly made of stars ✩✩✩!

Good morning sweet people.  EDIT: Just a quick mention that my link list is being redone.  If you aren't on there it's because I haven't added you back on yet.  I'm so challenged with this stuff.  I tried reorganizing it and lost most of the list.  I've had to go "fishing". LOL! Thanks xo)

 I was just thinking...there is a sweetness in prayer.  The same sweetness resides in celebration, meditation, attention, and love.  This morning is a call to gratitude.  I've spent a weekend in the sun, with loved ones, preparing meals (a prayer in itself), and examining my heart (it's nice to get to know oneself). 

So as I ponder the weeks agenda, I remind myself of this.  That every action is rippling outward to touch the lives of others, and so (with this thoughtfully in mind) I take cautious steps (prioritizing).  Everything I do will be a meditation in sweetness.

As the star factories churn out new and brilliant stars, as 800 billion suns circulate in a galaxy (the Sombrero Galaxy) so large it takes 50 million light years for light to cross it...I will simply exist sweetly. We are all made of stars after all, always have been, always will be.  Hafiz had it right! (My sugar withdrawals are coming through in this post.  Every other word is sweetness or sweetly. LOL!)

Also...I will keep my father (newly retired, yay!!!) in mind (will you, too?), as he enters the operating theater again this week, as his (oh so funny and kind) warrior spirit seeks to battle it out with the invading enemy cancer.  All thoughts and sweetness will be greatly appreciated. xo

One last thing (a little stat for your inner geek), but my husband-to-be explained something to me about the difference between a million, and a billion.  A million seconds is 12 days.  A billion seconds is 32 years.  (800 billion suns, now does that give you some scope to work with regarding that Sombrero Galaxy I mentioned?)

xo Happiest of Mondays to you...and Happy Birthday to Queen Victoria!

(feliz?) Dia del maestro!

 My daughter's legs.  A lovely idea plucked from this very fun flickr group.

Teachers come in all shapes and sizes.  Some you give a shiny red apple to.  Others you treat poorly, because they cause you anxiety or anger (often our greatest teachers).  I guess the lesson here is to learn.  At the very most basic level, we are all here to learn.  So take whatever it is you may have perceived as a slight, and work it to your advantage.  (After all, some folks out there may not have your best interest at heart.)

When the student is ready, the teacher will appear.  I've often found this to be true in my own life.  Let's learn from each other then.  Let's squeeze this orange of a life and see what we get, fear-free.  Be yourself.  Discover who you are.  Reach for what is rightfully yours.

Thank a teacher today!! Our language, our music, math, cooking, in fact ALL your skills came from a teacher.  We need them.  We all are them.  Let go, fly, and be free!!

(Life is either a daring adventure or nothing. Security is mostly a superstition. It does not exist in nature.” - Helen Keller, right Tara?)

Enjoy your long weekend everyone! I'm going to a rollerskating party, and then a huge fireworks party.  Basically the weekend is one big party.  (Why not? Back Monday!)

xo

East of the Sun and West of the Moon

 

Sunny days are perfect for walking through gardens with good friends, drinking hot coffee and reading Arabian fairy tales. (I just love how my friend brings chocolate chip cookies for my little one, and crouches down to her level to include her in everything.  Some adults just GET that kids are people too, I love that. She exudes kindness.)

Yes, the laundry has piled up.

Yes, the sink is full of dishes.

Alas, when I am no longer here, and I'm floating around with my harp I'll never say to another angel, "Gee, I should've done more laundry."

So this girl is full of forgiveness today.  Forgiveness is key.  Key to your OWN happiness, so yeah, a little selfish.  Whatever works.  :)

I'm going to eat some sugar today.  Shhh!  It's not on the "eat clean" list either.  Only a smidge.  Like a small handful of these.

xo

Love story~

 

Beautifully sculpted Italian marble, and what a talent it is to sculpt.  I admire those who can sculpt.  This is an estate near my home where you can walk the gardens and tour the home.

It was a gloriously sunny morning and while walking through my young daughter said to me, "Mommy is your heart in your tummy?"

"No.  It's in your chest.  Why?  Do you think it is in your tummy?"

"Yup.  Mine is."

"What does it feel like?" I inquire, thinking perhaps she feels unwell.

"It's full of blue flowers for you, Mum." (I'm not sure either, but I loved hearing it.)

So as we meandered out of there and back to the car, I thought how lucky I was to have the everyday hidden gifts, much like the handmade rock paperweight and picture frame I was given yesterday for Mother's Day.  The everyday gifts of insights, and how my little daughter sees me.  How I make her feel.  It's worth it's weight in gold.

On another note... :)

I really want this girls wardrobe.  My favourite movie (for score and CLOTHES!) but also because it was full of rich chemistry between Ali and Ryan.  I still covet that girls wardrobe.  Sigh.

Enjoy your week, and wishing you warm sun, hot double stuffed baked potatoes and a good old movie.  Rent Love Story and grab a box of tissues. xo

Mum, thanks.

 

Thanks for every thing you do.  Did. Will do.  It is all appreciated more than words can speak.

A dedication.  {As unconventional as it may be.} I love you!

xo

p.s. Happy Mothers Day to all the moms out there!

Dancing a THANK YOU along the curb!!

 

Giddy~! Blissed out~! Tripping on the pure LOVE that has poured in to this little cyber-space. :)

While I caramelize some onions for a dip I'm making (Caramelized Onion, Spinach & Artichoke!) (and no, I'm not pulling a Martha, just burning the damn candle at both ends again people!) I thought to take a break and post a THANK YOU to TypePad for featuring me in May's newsletter as one of their "Blogs to make you happy".

I'm honoured to say the least! Thank you to all who stopped in to read this humble little blog.  Tomorrow my eldest turns nine, so I'm prepping food (marinating chicken breasts in fig balsamic marinade shhhh! it's Kraft Olive Oil dressing...) and my hubby is outside cursing at the new BBQ he is putting together.  The old one had bitten the dust and so since twenty people arrive for a feeding tomorrow, it was a necessary thing to be assembling it tonight! Poor lad, I'll have to go pour him some tinto vino. :)

Oh! I can't wait to hear this man sing Nessun Dorma on July 18th!!!

Talk to you soon and enjoy the upcoming weekend folks! Love to you!! xo

{Giving this a whirl next time}xo

Today we wished upon a star. :)

We went to the park!

We swung on swings!

We slid on slides!

We chased sticks (with puppies) and lay down in the green green grass.

We wished on a star, even though it was mid-day. We asked if we could be beautiful brides this year. Then we sent it off to the Universe for approval. The office of God is always open, so we may expect an off-hours answer to that question, if we are listening.

Today there were also regrets.

Dashed hopes.

Let downs.

Mixed in with that we were elated, happy and completely PROUD.

So all in all, a pretty human day was had by all.

I am thinking of those I haven't visited, and no, not blogs. I'm thinking of fleshy folks in my life that need me, and I haven't been there.

I'm sending another wish off into the great Unknown that I may find peace with decisions I've made in my life. And another that an upcoming journey with two fantastic  people goes smoothly and we have the most fun you could possibly have in five days :)

For all of you I wish Andrea Bocelli could sing you all to sleep, that you would all own a Du Buh Du doll (shop update tomorrow people!) and that H1N1 wouldn't stalk your fears like a black cloud.

Here is a kiss on the cheek, for a good night's sleep to all. xox {And a wee tuck in too. For it's great to be tucked in, isn't it? Ah, the moment the fairy Godmother strokes Cinderella's hair...makes my throat all lumpy. }

When you wish upon a star, (yes, I'm humming the song too...) makes no difference who you are....what do YOU wish for? xo