Southworth Art and Garden Fair

3 May

rlf_sagf2013_postcard-proof1A spring fair will be happening in a few weeks at my parent’s property! If you are local please come and check out all the great vendors. There is more information here.

I am excited to be sharing a booth with my mom and Isabela. Isabela and I have been working on dreamcatchers to sell, and I will have lots of canvas collage art for sale! I am excited to be bringing my art out into the world and hope you get a chance to come support local!

IMG_6387 IMG_6423The Bremerton Farmers Market also opened last night and the kids and I headed down to the park to check it out. Grandma treated us all to Thor’s Viking Ice cream — and the weather was incredible for a May day in the Northwest! I love the sunshiny weather!

I am planning on keeping my hands busy crafting these next few weeks to prepare for the fair. What are your spring time plans?

 

books i’ve been reading.

29 Apr

I have been reading some super good books and wanted to tell you about them so you could snag copies for yourself! I was able to get these at the library, so if you are local put them in your queue asap!

12291438The Madman’s Daughter was enthralling. I read the first three chapters Saturday afternoon while making chicken wings (I have to multi-task if I want to read!) and then sat on the couch Sunday morning obsessed.

“Inspired by H. G. Wells’s classic The Island of Dr. Moreau, The Madman’s Daughter is a dark and breathless Gothic thriller about the secrets we’ll do anything to know and the truths we’ll go to any lengths to protect.”

This was an out-of-the-ordinary pick for me, I am usually bent on more dystopian YA — but this was sooooo fun. Until the end. Then I was very angry. Then I stalked goodreads for a very.long.time. and realized it was book one of a trilogy, so the story isn’t over, and now I am much less angry. Except the sequel isn’t out for like, a year:(

11861062Starters is a fun read. It wasn’t my favorite, or like OMG YOU MUST READ THIS kinda thing, but still, it was weird and freaky and included all the creepy end-of-the-world-as-we-know-it-stuff we all want in a story.

“Callie lost her parents when the Spore Wars wiped out everyone between the ages of twenty and sixty. She and her little brother, Tyler, go on the run, living as squatters with their friend Michael and fighting off renegades who would kill them for a cookie. Callie’s only hope is Prime Destinations, a disturbing place in Beverly Hills run by a mysterious figure known as the Old Man.”

Disturbing, right? It gets worse, but also better. It is also book one of a trilogy.

10194157Shadow and Bone was one of those books I could. not. put.down. It was amazing you guys. Like in love amazing.
And also very hard for me to read because the heroine is a Sun Summoner. She has a power involving light in her hands.

“Alina, a pale, lonely orphan, discovers a unique power that thrusts her into the lavish world of the kingdom’s magical elite—the Grisha. Could she be the key to unravelling the dark fabric of the Shadow Fold and setting Ravka free?”

 

Um. Yeah. Have you heard me talk about my manuscript FLICKER???

I was trying not to freak out. (I didn’t do a very good job of that. I had a pretty dang good pity party going on this week.)  But the thing is, there is room for so many books out there in the big wide world. And my book is post-apocalyptic America, and Bardugo’s world is fairy-tale Russia. And there are a million other differences. But still— EEEEKKKKK.

So then I was obsessed with goodreads reviews and wanted to read everyone else’s’ take on the book that had some similar concepts to mine. I learned that hard-core Russian historians have some issues with the language and world building. But I am not Russian historian, therefore I loved it.

READ IT AND TELL ME YOUR THOUGHTS> PLEASE!! Because I was seriously stressing out. If you are a writer how do you deal with other books having some similarities? If you are a reader, do you think there is a place on the bookshelf for more?

What have you been reading lately?

 

 

 

 

the thing about dreams.

26 Apr

My sister calls me, because everyday after we text for twenty minutes we are always like, maybe we should talk on the phone? And so we do. It is easier to talk on the phone while washing dishes than texting and washing dishes, so it’s usually a pretty good way to multi-task. But this day I wasn’t washing dishes. I had done them the night before, after dinner, when I promised everyone in the house I wasn’t in a bad mood, yet for some reason I decided washing dishes was the ONLY CHOICE IN THE WORLD. “I’m not grumpy, okayyy???” (says girl while furiously scrubbing pan).

So my sister calls and I am doing the most uncharacteristic thing ever. Cleaning out my closet. Now, I’m pretty good about hauling things to the Goodwill on a weekly basis. I am really good at getting rid of things. The clothing is often sorted out as I fold it, and added to the ‘give away pile’ or often times the ‘garbage pile’. But being a purger by nature does not mean I am a cleaner by nature. They are two very different talents.

So I was in my room sorting through every item of clothing and every pair of shoes, the heap was getting pretty impressive. Also, my closet was suddenly manageable. And by manageable I mean there was no longer a dozen-ish pairs of shoes thrown in a pile on the floor. Of both the closet, and my actual bedroom.

My sister was like, “What are you doing?” and I was like, “I’m cleaning my closet, ISN’T THAT SO WIERD?” and she was like, “UM, ACTUALLY IT IS SUPER FREAKY BECAUSE I HAD A DREAM ABOUT YOU CLEANING YOUR CLOSET LAST NIGHT!!!”

I know, right?!

The dream she had involved her, my mom, and me all standing in my room and I was showing them how clean my closet was. And they were like, “But there are only 2 pieces of clothes in your closet, Anya. Where did you put everything?” And I was like, “I got rid of it all I am only wearing PPP clothing now.” And they were like, “But that means you only have a dress, a few shirts and some pajama pants.” And I was all, “I KNOW! COOL RIGHT?” And they were like, “That is so weird, you could have like, paced yourself, at least kept a pair of jeans.” And I was like, “NO. IT’S ALL OR NOTHING, YO.”

Okay, I don’t think I actually became a gangster in her dream. But dreams are all about interpretation, right?!

So then my sister and I were like THIS IS SO WEIRD>

Because it was, and also because dreams are weird in general. And not just the ones that happen when we close are eyes and go to sleep. The dreams we hold, that we are writing on the tablet of our heart, that we are fighting to make come true every day of our lives, are very weird sometimes, too. Or seem too crazy or too freaky or just like, make no sense.

But that is why dreams are so completely amazing.

I was reading a children’s picture book from the library. It is called An Awesome Book. And it was, awesome, because it was talking about dreams and that how somewhere along the way we stop dreaming about rocket powered unicorns and  magic watermelon boats and we start dreaming about fancy cars and houses with lots of rooms and I love that. I love a story written for kids about keeping our dreams crazy and weird and fantastic.

And I love that for me, too. I want to keep my dreams crazy and weird and fantastic. I want you to keep your dreams crazy and weird and fantastic, too.

Keep dreaming. Of clean closets and maybe, also, that little dream that that is hanging around your heart, that could be ten times bigger if you remember  it’s okay to have a dream that big. And even one ten times bigger than that.

And tell someone about it. Call them, don’t text them, and say, “Wanna hear about my crazy dream?”  And then tell them all about it. They will want to hear.

xoxo

 

friday five spot.

19 Apr

Yay! The five spot again. I’m, like, on a roll or something:)

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1. First of all. This week was all kinds of vulnerable, professionally,  for me. I sent my manuscript, Flicker, out to Beta Readers. Doing that is like saying, “Here is this thing that is really important to me, will you please rip it to shreds?”

And then not fall apart in the process.

Look, I know: It is good for my book. It is good for me as a writer. It is good for me as a person.

BUT: clicking send on the pdf file still makes me  a little (and by a little I mean extremely) vulnerable because WHAT IF EVERYONE HATES IT/THINKS IT’S LAME/JUDGES MY SPELLING AND GRAMMER????

What then?

Well, I will tell you what, I will ave to keep working. Harder then ever. And that is a good thing too.

So basically I was hyperventilating the day after I sent it out and then I got a super encouraging email from one of the readers and was  like, okay. Even if 95% hate it, I still got 5% here, and that is enough for me to get through today.

My skin is growing thicker, I tell you. That is good too.

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2. Lincoln is a full on reader now. It is so awesome. He is all about Dr. Seuss and Fly Guy. I like his taste. I mean, Fly Guy is funny!

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3. I spent a million hours in the yard this work. I hate it. In my IG photo I hash tagged, #thisdoesnothingformysoul. It basically sums it up. I sooo wish I was one of those people who was really into getting my hands in the soil. But no. It is something I do only because we are the ghetto house on the block and I need to not be that person. I do care about my image on some level. I am a person.

The whole time I was in the yard I was dreaming, longingly, of this newly checked out stack in my house:

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I know. It is sooo sad to ignore beautiful books like those.

4. I got this super wonderful bar of soap in the mail this week from a friend. I LOVE IT. And so do my dreadlocks!!! If you are a reader with dreads, and have heard me talk about my Baking Soda and ACV wash, I have changed my ways in just one wash. Swoonworthy, I swear.

5. Look at my sweet new apron from my sister!

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I got one from the same company from my  Pop’s for Christmas — I love wearing it as a catch-all purse!

Okay, I hope you have a fabulous weekend friends! I still have some writing goals to meet for the week, so I’m hunkering down tomorrow to type (must make it happen!)! I hope you have lots of fun in store for yourself, also.

Oh, also, BIG BLOG SHOUT OUT TO ANNA AND KRISTY FOR COMMENTING WITH THEIR FIVE SPOT’S LAST WEEK. XOXOXOXOXO

what you really trippin’ on?

18 Apr

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I burned the soup last night.

I had planned out the meal, with a list taken to the grocery store.The white beans were soaked over night and brought to a boil with a few ham hocks. Salt and pepper and low heat. It is a meal everyone likes in our house, and with a few simple ingredients and planning ahead, it makes the mid-week hump easy to get over.

Then I left the house to pick up the kids from their 1/2 day at school, headed to the cafe where Grandma works to walk on the beach whilst eating apricot thumb-print cookies. Followed up by a stop at the library where we loaded my basket to the brim (mostly with Fox Trot comics – Moses is obsessed). I forgot my holds were at a different library (closer to my house), waiting for me, so we swung by there before headed home.

The whole time we had on auto-repeat the song Young Homie by Chris Renee who my 12 year-old daughter may be slightly crushing on. Hey, I don’t judge. I think I was mildly obsessed with Kid Rock slash Eminem at that age(who am I kidding, I still am). The thing about this song is that it’s lyrics are really good. It’s all about life and love and living for the things that matter. Oh yeah, also sobriety. But that is a good message, too.

Anyway, after our errands we walk in the house and it just smells gross. Like burnt soup. Apparently I remembered to stir the soup before I left the house, but the burner was still chilling at a steady 3-spot all afternoon. Yikes. I momentarily considered trying to salvage it by not scraping up the charred bits at the bottom, and forcing everyone else to eat it while I claimed ‘Not hungry’ and then eat a dinner’s worth of gelato later at night. But that is just mean. And also, Jer would see straight through that.

But see. I wasn’t even stressed about ruining EVERYTHING. And by everything, I mean dinner. I mean – I am basically streaming Chris Renee at the moment and was all, “Young Homie, what you really trippin’ on?” Definitely NOT burned soup, am I right?! I mean, that would not be cool.

So instead I told the kids they could watch Saved By the Bell IF they folded laundry while doing so, and I attempted to meet my word count goals until Jer came home.  I also called the brewery down the street to make sure they still had their Wednesday Wings special.

They did.

So we ate a lot of wings and we all laughed at dinner. Like, A LOT. It was like we had never eaten out before. Everyone was so happy (I mean Moses was reading Fox Trot and ignoring our laughing, like he did not get what was so funny) and we were all talking animatedly and smiling and no one peed their pants or spilled their water or complained about messy hands or anything. I don’t know why we were all so  punch-drunk. I also know I realized 1/2 way through my second beer (The wings I ordered were really hot. That’s my excuse.), that my beer was also 9% alcohol and that is, like, a lot more than my average Corona. So, I might not have been really punch-drunk as much as well, you get what I mean.

The point of this story is, and I realize I did an awful lot of chit-chat here, if you burn your dinner, don’t trip about it. Go get Wednesday Wings. And smile. A lot.

be brave.

16 Apr

So I got my new tattoo for my birthday on Saturday! It was such a fun day out for Jeremy and I! Besides the tattoo, we also browsed the the bookstore (drooled), saw a movie (The Host, fun), had dinner at my favorite restaurant (the Paella Bar in Poulsbo, delish), and ate dessert (Mocha Mousse with Caramel and Grey Sea Salt, divine) at home while watching reruns of Arrested Development (catching up before the new season begins on Netflix!). Pretty epic for the big 3-1!

Image 1BE BRAVE.

Image 2I am so pleased with how it turned out. Exactly what I was dreaming of! Bonnie, the artist doing the piece said I better not wuss out considering the words. I didn’t. I am so excited to be carrying these powerful words with me everywhere I go in my life. Hopefully for another 31 beautiful, crazy, lovely, messy years!

 

 

friday five spot!

12 Apr

It’s been awhile.

1.I feel like I should have done a disclaimer regarding all the photos in my last blog post of *me*. I published the post, and then became totally self-conscious of all the pictures of myself. The reason I did it was because when I first got dreadlocks I was so inspired by bloggers who recounted their experiences with pictures. It was like, even though my hair was often not feeling *great*, I felt like I could keep going by knowing what could come of my patience.

I told my friend about feeling so self-conscious and she told me a 1-10 ratio is a good rule of thumb. Like, for every one post of myself I should do ten on other things. And she said this rule can also be applied to Instagram photos. What do you think is a good ‘rule’ to follow regarding self portraits? Do you care? Am I being weird by even thinking about this? Isn’t this my blog anyway? Is anyone even reading this thing??

2. LOOK AT ISABELA’S FANCY KICKS!

IMG_6007My parents got her a gift certificate for her birthday in February to design her own footwear! It was thrilling for her, and I gotta say, she has a knack for color coordination, right? I love her choice of LIVE/LOVE on the tongues. One of her favorite singers has that tattooed on his knuckles and she thinks it is the coolest thing. I am really. really. really. hoping she doesn’t have a growth spurt anytime soon!

3. Speaking of tattoo’s I am getting a new one tomorrow!

IMG_6172I am so excited about my birthday present! And I am not going to tell you what it is going to be, but I’ll give you a hint. It has to do with my word of the year last year. Now you can dig through my archives to figure it out:)

4. These two are cracking me up lately.

IMG_6190They are both falling apart. Maisey is missing her top teeth, Lincoln his bottom two. Lincoln is getting scraps and cuts faster than any child. Neither can manage to keep their rooms tidy for longer than twelve minutes. They are a mess. I don’t remember Moses being such a disaster at six. Maybe he was a different sort. I don’t know. All I know is they are ridiculously cute disasters.

5. I have my new goals all mapped out for my new manuscript!

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I am so excited. I am 10k into the story right now, and have a hefty schedule ahead of me. My last book I wrote in 3 weeks after I got through the first 10k (I labored for a few months on the beginning, then I was on a roll). Now the editing has taken me the past 2 1/2 months, but I think it is *nearly* done. I have had my critique partners reading chapters, so I am editing on other peoples schedule. I am so thankful to have people working along side me!

I also want to apologize in advance for being a crappy friend for the next 6 weeks. Ha!

Okay— happy Friday friends! What have you been up to lately? Five spot in the comments!

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