Art in food

Dinner tonight was a fabulous veggie stir-fry and for a change I included purple cabbage, mainly for color. When I sliced into the cabbage I was struck by the beautiful pattern inside, so of course I had to take a picture. There's art everywhere.

Getting artsy

I've been working hard over the past several days to build a website. First I started with Dreamweaver, an awesome program to be sure, but I'm in waaaaay over my head there. So now I'm working with the templates that are on offer through my hosting service. They're pretty cool, but may be limiting. It's too early to tell. It's always about balance, isn't it? This theme keeps coming up constantly.

Yesterday I spent some time taking photos of a few of the products I hope to sell, with an eye toward using them on my website. They're not all necessarily a clear picture of what the item is, but more artsy, to convey a texture. It was fun. My roommate was kind enough to model a few things as well. Progress!

"There's no reason this can't work!"

Now that's the kind of encouragement I'm talkin' about! This week I met with some business counselors to discuss a business idea I have, one which would allow me to travel and hopefully do some good in the process.

I got an hour and a half of free counseling through SCORE, a fantastic organization with branches all over the country, which offers free advice to those with potentially good ideas, but a lot of questions. My counselors were two lovely and very knowledgeable retired professionals who helped me to focus my thoughts and goals. I now have some concrete steps laid out and a more solid plan in place. Woohoo!

Vacation week is pretty much flying by and soon the stress of planning will return. Ugh. But I think the school year will be over before I know it and then it will be off on the next adventure. I love working multiple part-time jobs. It's way more interesting than having just one, in my opinion.


Again, using "old" photos, this one from Cambodia, on that day that I wandered for quite some time and ended up hitching a ride back into town. Somehow I think things always work out, at least I'd like to hope so.

Vacation!!

I feel a little silly celebrating the fact that it's school vacation considering I just returned from a ridiculously extended one. And honestly, it's not a total vaca for me as I'll be working more hours at my other job. But it's great nonetheless because I don't have to do any planning. Hallelujah!

I haven't picked up my camera since Easter, also ridiculous, but probably a confirmation that I shouldn't be investing in the most expensive option out there as I upgrade. Restraint, restraint. :) A couple weeks ago I decided to try my hand again at applying to one of the stock photography sites online. How cool to make a couple bucks from my images. Well, I think my stuff has improved tremendously since my first attempt, but still they said no. Kind of disappointing, but yet another confirmation that this is just a hobby for me, not my bread and butter.

I'm hoping to spend some time this week doing a little research, both for a company I'm doing some writing for, and for myself. How best to fund a life of travel and adventure? Hmm...

Happy Easter!

It's hard to believe it had been a year since I last saw my extended family, but it's true. So today's Easter gathering was especially sweet. We had an epic egg hunt for the kids, each one getting at least 20 eggs apiece, the weather was phenomenal, and we all had a great time, cooking and eating and catching up.

Overall it's been a fabulous weekend, in part due to the gorgeous weather. Yesterday I headed to Portsmouth for a yoga class at my old stomping grounds and afterward visited my favorite shoe store of all time, Footnotes. I bought myself a new pair of Birkenstock sandals to replace the ones I chucked back in Vietnam. And even though it's a brand new pair, putting them on felt like reconnecting with an old friend. Ahhhh... Birkenstocks, how I love thee.

Later that afternoon I did in fact reconnect with an old friend and we walked around Portland for a while. Gotta love the weekends!


Yeah, that's right. Check this egg out.

Stepping in

I took a fabulous yoga class last night. If anyone lives in the Portland, Maine area I would highly recommend taking David's class on Thursday nights at the Yoga Exchange. He's an amazing teacher, both in the way he structures his classes and the language he uses. Last night's theme was fluidity and he talked about stepping into challenges, rather than resisting them. Even though life may not turn out the way you expected or hoped, you need to adapt to the way it is. We all know this, of course, but it doesn't hurt to be reminded.

The thought of the physical act of taking a step reminded me of the elephants I met in Thailand. How we were cautioned to keep an eye out for each other in case an elephant was behind someone, because despite their enormous size, you couldn't hear them when they walked. This is one of the reasons I love these gentle giants. That and the fact that they are highly intelligent. I hope I get to spend some more time with these beauties someday.