promise and beauty

Thanksgiving day brought a promise.

When you look with the right eyes you can see the beauty everyday.

. . .and action!

"What we think or what we know

or what we believe is, in the

end, of little consequence.

The only consequence is what we do"

- John Ruskin

 

chai and quichey pie

This weekend I made a quiche, rocky road brownies, pastry puff wrapped brie and feta dip with scallions.  I started playing around with Photoshop while looking through Computer Tricks for Scrapbooking.  Spent time with my honey.  Went shopping for Thanksgiving stuff.  We are going to make sage butter-roasted turkey with cider gravy (recipe from Bon Appetit).  I drank chai, 21st Street house blend coffee, and planned my turkey meal timeline.  I have never cooked the turkey day meal before, so I am trying to get as organized as I can.  I also watched all the Martha Stewart on-demand videos on how to make a turkey.  Please note, Martha's turkeys NEVER have a pop-up timer, because she raises her own turkeys.  I want to be like Martha Stewart when I grow up.

While I was taking a walk this morning. . .

What's playing in the Ipod today. . .

Pep Talk

I always liked this. . .time to listen and absorb.

a walk in the woods

When I woke up this morning, the sun was shining and I knew I needed to get outside and enjoy this beautiful October day.  So I took a walk through Frick Park. 

I found a flat rock in the water to rest on in the middle of the creek, while I listened to the water babbling through the rocks.  I thought about the things that are important to me. 

I want to attract good things into my life.  I want to trust, to love, to be compassionate and honest.  I want to write for a living.  I want to be healthy in mind, body and spirit.  I want to stay connected with the people that I love and make connections with people I meet along my life's journey.  I want to be confident and know in my heart that love will prevail.  I want to take more photographs and art journal more.  I want to grow spiritually and love myself.  I don't want to be so hard on myself.

Nature was smiling at me, letting me know that everything is going to be OK.  There is always hope and when I am discouraged or distraught, I can always count on the people that I love to be there to support me.  I can always go for a walk and talk to the universe.

 I stopped in Regent Square after my walk.

I sipped hot caramel apple cider on my way back. Yum!

When I spend time in nature I am able to find peace.  Since I grew up with parents who loved hiking and always took my brother and I, the woods are a safe haven for me.  It makes me feel comfy.  I feel tension and stress leave my body when I am surrounded by vast trees.  I can breathe.  I like living in the city, but I love escaping to the woods.

I hope you have a good week and that you are able to find a moment of peace, where ever it is that you may find it. 

Thank you for visiting my blog. 

Love, Chelle

Me likey this song

Lazy Eye-Silversun Pickups

I've been waiting


i've been waiting for this moment all my life

but it's not quite right



and this 'real'

it's impossible if possible

at who's blind word

so clear but so unheard



i've been waiting

i've been waiting for this silence all night long

it's just a matter of time



to appear sad

with the same 'ol decent lazy eye

fixed to rest on you

aim free and so untrue



everyone's so intimately rearranged

everyone can focus clearly with such shine



everyone's so intimately rearranged

everyone can focus clearly with sunshine



lost and loaded

still the same 'ol decent lazy eye

straight through your gaze

that's why i said i relate

i said we relate

it's so fun to relate



it's the room the sun and the sky

it's the room the sun and the sky



i've been waiting

i've been waiting for this moment...

come away with me. . .for a moment

fall page

I love fall.  I made this page a couple weeks ago. 

yellowcake

I saw Kaki King play in a little club in Chicago in 2006. She is amazing!

grand cayman is paradise

It was so beautiful on this island. When I close my eyes I can go back.

community college classes rock!

I took a pottery class this summer, and I loved it! It was so fun to learn something new. I found it relaxing and soothing to my soul. I think I will try it again in the future. I feel excited to find out what other artsy fun endeavors for which I may have untapped talents.

My honey and I are signing up for a mosaic art class for the fall. YAY!

The Illustrated Jane Eyre

One of my all time favorite books is Jane Eyre. I saw that there is a production in Pittsburgh in November at the Pict Theatre that I would like to check out.

I found The Illustrated Jane Eyre last weekend, and was excited to see it is illustrated by Dame Darcy. I have a couple of her spooky goth comic books called Meatcake that I picked up somewhere along the way. . .I dug them out of the box in the closet. Puts me in the mood for fall and Halloween.

Here's one of her videos.

the face of summer

I love this pic of Izzy! She looks so carefree and glowy. She was running around at Beaver Creek in Ohio and her mommy took this awesome picture. I think she really captured a beautiful moment.

it's such a perfect day

It is so important not to take a single moment for granted.

a day downtown

try try try

This is my chance to let all the creativity flow out from me that I have always dreamed. I am only here once and this is my time. This moment right now, is what matters. Michelle, you are capable of being and doing anything your heart desires. You have to try try try. I saw those words spray painted on a staircase on a strange road that I found myself lost on the other day.



I was attempting to take Bill his dinner and I thought that I would take the road less traveled. Well, Pittsburgh roads are not user friendly. You can get lost really easily. There are one way streets everywhere, so if you made a wrong turn, good luck. I traveled this lonely road, and it was odd. There was a lot of graffiti and it looked like I was about to drive off into a field. I was under a bridge in East Liberty. I saw an interesting fusion of metal scraps attached to a street sign, and it was in the shape of a cube. I don’t know how it came to be, but I found it intriguing.





It made me think about how we have to look at life as a set of stairs, and that is the only way that we can climb to the next step up, we have to try. We have a choice; we can stay on the step we are on, or we can try try try to keep reaching higher up. It is in our reach, it is our choice. How can I obtain the goal of writing without trying? I simply must give myself a break and just be. Be yourself. DO the things you love to do. Go to poetry readings. Get involved in things. Don’t get down and don't ever give up. You are in the middle of that staircase.




Do you want to stay there, or do you want to see what the next step has to offer. The rest of the things in your life will come. If I fret over the things that I want that I don’t have, I will just be fretting and stuck on the step.
My life is my own. No one is experiencing this existence on the planet in the same way that I am right now. It is a unique experience in this vessel, in this mind. We are all connected in our journeys yet we are allowed this opportunity to live freely.


So
Let's
See
What
Happens
Try
Try
Try

night sounds

distant train whistle
heavy deep breaths of my lover
kitty licks on her fur
traffic on the street
neighbor upstairs treads across squeaky floor
desperate shrieks come from the house next door.
a fight? crazy person?
She does this often-
when I can hear the night sounds
when my window exposes my ears
to the unsafe sounds
of the outside world
Better restful sleep
when the window is closed.

A to Z (a writing exercise for me. . .)

A crisp fall day
Bill cuddles so comfy put me at ease
Curtains billow on a windy day
Desk in perfect order
Every moment I capture in a camera’s lense
Friends not too far away for a chat
Grew up in Paris
Hikes in the woods with the fam
Innocent childhood
Just being myself
Kilts worn by Scots
Letters from Iraq, Kuwait, Germany, and Kosovo
Make a fresh pot of tea
Nest in a tree
Ohio back roads
Popcorn from Pittsburgh Popcorn Company
Quest for perfection
Rusted Root at Bonnaroo
Shady Side art show on Walnut Street
Twins, red headed
Unquenched thirst for knowledge
Violin softly soars in a music hall
Whisper “I love you.”
X-cellent use of the letter X
Yell to be heard
Zoo close by, in Highland Park

l love this song

getting started

My hours have been cut at work, so I now have a week day off, and it is the time to write. I don't know if it will be poetry, a novel, a children's book or a biography. I just want to write. Write my little heart out. I started today and it was kind of hard. But I figured that it is going to take some time. I am a little rusty. It will come back to me. There's no time like now. So, I begin my journey into my creativity and I am happy just to have the opportunity and the willingness. I also have a wonderful support group, my honey, my friends and family. I can do anything. I know it. I took a walk this morning to clear my head and began. Yay!

little grins

sunsets



yummy coffee



retro signs



obey



curious cutie

I love

that i was there to capture this moment. . .



that my parents are still in love with each other after 33 years. . .




cool looking statues






graffiti (guilty pleasure. . .)





morning coffee, freshly ground



finding this picture that I didn't know my mom took




being a ray of sunshine

soft tender kisses that mean how they feel

smiling at people on a hiking trail

the moth pod casts http://www.themoth.org/podcast

love notes scattered around my apartment

dreaming about Scotland and Ireland. . .
someday, we will make it there!

inanimate objects with smiley faces

where soul meets body video. . .