I am the owner of Bloom Art Studio in Mokena, IL. I LOVE ART! I am a middle-aged woman who vows to live each day artfully and with intention. Teaching art, walking the dog, painting, photography, reading books and writing are my favorite ways to pass the time.
On Friday, my daughter Caroline and I leave for a jaunt to the Big Apple. We will be returning on Tuesday night. This is our second trip to NYC and we are planning on making this an annual trip-just the girls. We are fortunate to be staying with Rebecca at Thrifty Goodness, she was so generous to invite us into her home and to play tour guide. To, me though, Rebecca is more, she’s a new friend, full of possibility. I can’t wait to spend time with her. She has many of the same interests as myself, and we hope to sit and sew and create some new things together one night, just for fun, and over our the course of our stay, forge a friendship that lasts.
We are planning a trip to the MET, (Metropolitan Museum of Art) which is something I’ve been wanting to do for a long time. We are going to do Manhattan on foot Saturday. Caroline wants to see Time Square at night to get some lively photos of the neon lights. We plan on taking hundreds of photos, both candid and artsy, so I will post those as soon as we get home. Some other must see stops we’re hoping to make are Ground Zero, Brooklyn Bridge, Greenwich Village, Pearl River Mart in Chinatown for some unbeatable bargains, Little Italy and whatever else comes our way.
Autumn in the city should be wonderful for walking and enjoying the sites. I ordered myself a Quilted Field Jacket in a Khaki color from Lands End. It’s due here on Thurday! I think it will look great on me and paired with a snappy scarf, should make me look like a real City Girl.
Rebecca, Caroline and I will be driving to Connecticut on Sunday to hit the flea markets there. We are going to squeeze junk shops and flea markets in as much as we can because that’s where the real treasures and souvineers are! Thrifting is something Rebecca, Caroline and I all love.
Last night I sat stunned with disbelief and disappointment as I watched the Cubs get swept in the first round of the playoffs. We thought this year was different. It was magical and it seemed like this October we’d see our boys in blue go all the way. The team I watched in this series was a different team. They made errors, hardly hit, and when they did, they didn’t make use of those opportunities to score. At times they looked like bumbling idiots.
What happened? Was it the curse kicking in once again, or did they just choke from all the pressure? Maybe standing on that field was equivalent to the pressure of the deep sea, only in this case, the Chicago fans were like the water, pressing hard on the psyches of each player, realizing it’s up to them to change history and fulfill the dreams of every fan. The pressure of the baseball responsibility they had to carry was enormous. It must’ve been too much for them.
After the game last night, I sat with my 48 year old husband and watched him replay the TV version of the Eddie Vedder video tribute to the Cubs over and over and over. He sat there sobbing and singing through his tears. Once again, he suffered a miserable disappointment. Like thousands of others, ever since he was a kid, he’s loved and rooted for the Cubs. I married him 24 years ago and he turned me into a Cubs fan after being devoid of baseball my entire childhood. They are my team, too, and I also shed some tears. If you’re not from Chicago, I guess you just don’t understand. It’s a tough pill to swallow year in and year out. They’ve never looked so good as they did this year. We are all just sitting in silence, speechless and wondering why.
Eddie Vedder is the lead singer from Pearl Jam and he is a Chicagoan and a lifelong fan of the Cubs. He loves them so much, he wrote and recorded a beautiful song that has all kinds of imagry about being a devoted Chicago Cubs Fan. I wanted to share this video with you and the song that goes with it.
The Cubs have been affectionately known as “The Lovable Losers.” But you know what? In my mind they’re not losers. They just haven’t won yet. Maybe next year. Miracles do happen. 😦
All the Way by Eddie Vedder
Don’t let anyone say that it’s just a game
For I’ve seen other teams and it’s never the same
When you’re born in Chicago you’re blessed and you’re heeled
The first time you walk into Wrigley Field
Our heroes wear pinstripes
Heroes in blue
Give us the chance to feel like heroes too
Whether we’ll win and if we should lose
Someday we’ll go all the way
Yeah
Someday we’ll go all the way
We are one with the Cubs
With the Cubs we’re in love
Yeah, hold our head high as the underdogs
We are not fair weather but far weather fans
We are like brothers in arms in the streets and the stands
Click on any photo in this post or below to enlarge it.
File drawer yarn stash #1
Yarn stash #2 Yarn stash #3
My view from the loft looking down…
At the bottom of the stairs, Ollie sits by the front door watching birds or…whatever.
The loft is 9′ X 22′; and this is the cleaned up, empty side. It does need something…
My rubbermaid organizer that hold the little things, organized with labeled drawers…(this was big for me…labelling!) I have to admit, it does make it really easy to find things!
My far corner studio. Just outside of my guest bedroom…Perfect for when girlfriends gather. They can roll out of bed, pull up a chair and start creating something right along side me.
My sewing table sans sewing machine…it’s downstairs
My little cupboard full of all the little things a doll maker needs, kept neatly behind closed doors.
My bookcases turned fabric holder. I moved the shelves down to accomodate the height of the bolts. This tall cubbie cabinet is from IKEA. I got it in the scratch and dent dept. because it has a small scratch on the side where you can’t see it. I got it for a song….la la lala.
These two bins hold my DMC floss and my wool for applique.
This is the view from the living room when you are by the front door and look up…see, no mess!
A cat or two has been known to walk precariously across the rail….it gives me the shivers just thinking about it-I’m afraid of heights.
So, where do you think I should put this? I just brought it home from the rummage sale-it was absolutely irresistable all cottage-y.
Last week, I started cleaning my loft. It soars above my living room and is one of the prettiest places in my house. I never really had it nice and clean for any length of time, and a few days ago I decided enough is enough. I can’t have a messy loft-it’s got to look good when folks stop in and look up. I’m really happy with it.
I also am including pictures of my yarn stash…I got even more from the rummage sale yesterday. I honestly don’t know where the heck I’m going to put it!
I got 13 hanks of hand dyed wool yarn from Uraguay for $8!
I couldn’t resist this white cattagy cabinet for $15…
The carload of loot, both Rhonda and I scored.
My bamboo placemats…
A Mexican woven mat with a doggie motif! It’s mine!
Of course, I couldn’t come home without some lovely wicker baskets…notice one is a suitcase! I also found one Longaberger, too!
I dug through piles of scarves to find these 3 beauties.
I scored these bamboo placemats and this contemporary metal paper towel holder.
I couldn’t resist this red, gingham dress. I’m going to hang it in my sewing studio simply for inspiration.
An artful heap of hangers.
This owl spoke to me and said, “Take me home, hoo hoo!” and I did, along with some knitting needles for my collection. Some of the items I brought home, and exercise journal and miscellaneous lace trims
I really wanted this 3′ tall rabbit chef, but I couldn’t get myself to buy it for $12!
Rhonda scored this little yellow ware bowl for .50!
How about orange?
My pillow Time captured
A box of shoe stretchers artfully captured.
Some very nice decorative items. I heart that rabbit chef.
Miscellaneous goodies in the Maxwell St. tent
Table of candlesticks
Rummage sale trinket boxes… Loads of pillows…I found a very nice one with a cat on it….it was to be mine!
Rummage Lunch-church chilli with oyster crackers are a church sale staple.
The check tent where you can check your bags and go back in for more!
Boxes of knitting needles… A lone Featherweight. Some jerk stole the foot pedal a few hours after the sale opened, rendering this unsaleable.
Baskets on the lawn (baskets are one of my weakness’) Zipper-de-dodah Laces galore…. Boxes of vintage buttons… Boxes of playing cards, mostly shuffled together.
This morning, my friend Rhonda and I headed out at 5:30am to the world’s best rummage sale. It was held at a church in Winnetka, Il, an affluent town just north of Chicago. I’ve been going to this annual sale for over 15 years now, and the sale is in it’s 83rd year! The sale day is always the first Thursday in October, thursday being the maid’s day off (shows you about the neighborhood, lol).
Doobleh-vay and Simple Lovely blogs have devised a spin off of the original ‘Bucket List’. They have an idea for a list that’s more doable by the nearest milestone birthday, rather than having to get larger, more difficult things done before we die, which is the premise of the Bucket List. Their list is based on simple things, small things, and meaningful things. I am only 45, but I didn’t want to wait till age 50 to accomplish these things. Instead, I’ve given myself till age 48 to meet these life goals. I rounded the number to 45, just because that’s the age I am when I created this list.
Here are 45 things I’d like to accomplish by age 48:
1. I’d like to learn how to knit expertly, and especially learn how to read knitting patterns. 2. I’d like to have completed my college courses in education so I can become an art teacher. 3. I’d like to be 65lbs thinner 4. I hope to be regular at exercising on a daily basis 5. I want to adopt the eating habits of a ‘French Woman’ 6. Writing for a magazine 7. Help my last two children grow into responsible, good teenagers. 8. Own an Electra ‘Townie’ bike and use it to enhance my exercise plan 9. Have an herb garden 10. Own 1/2 the possessions I do now and live a simpler and more meanngful life. 11. Learn how to cook healthier, comfort food and eat out less.
12. Be richer of spirit 13. Take art classe and attend art seminars 14. Be a mom my kids adore even more than now 15. Have a better sense of style 15. Brave a shorter, sassier hairstyle 16. Be driving a hybrid car 17. Have shapely, toned upper arms 18. Have no credit card debt 19. Be creating mixed media art in my own style 20. Have a thought out financial plan that I follow 21. Spend considerably less and be choosier about the purchases I make 22. Finally learn Chicago’s layout just from having explored the city on a regular basis 23. Still be going to monthly girlfriend gatherings with Cindy. 24. Have hardwood flooring throughout my house 25. Use up all the craft stuff and fabric I already have before I attempt to purchase more. 26. Read 1 novel a week 27. Design and create more folk art quilts 28. Have completely rejected ‘celebrityism’ and materialism. 29. Get back into the Christmas spirit and give more to those who have less than myself. 30. Learn HTML
31. Get my house clean and organized 32. Make my catalog investment pay for itself. 33. Find something meaningful and artistic to do with my button collection (I have thousands!) 34. Finally understand politics 35. Be a wife my husband still loves 36. Be the kind of friend my girlfriends don’t want to lose 37. Be able to still turn heads, even though I’ll be 48 38. To have a mamogram that still reads ‘clear’ 39. To still be going to NYC with girlfriends and Caroline 40. Be more articulate when I talk 41. See the Cubs win a World Series
42. Nag less, and figure out how to get what I want with a kind word 43. To care more 44. To finally not have self-conscious feelings. 45. To still feel God and know He’s there-Even more than I do now.
“Can I have some money to go out? I need money for school…Mom, can you drive me here, can you drive me there, Can I have this person over? Can you bring me my lunch? What’s for dinner? Ooh, ooh, can you buy me this? I’m hungry!! Mom, can I borrow your credit card? Where’s the car keys? Oh, Mom, by the way, can you put that money back in my account that you borrowed just yesteday,” It goes on and on and on.
Your damn right I’m feeling snarky and I have good reason too. For the last 2 days, I’ve been nearly flat on my back with stomach flu, lurched over a bowl puking my guts out while I sit on the toilet, because if I stand, I’ll pee all over my self. Childbirth does that to you-I’m sure you get the picture. Besides the nausea, I had the chills and felt woozy, weak and lifeless. I couln’t keep anything down, and I just felt like crap with a capital “C” and used with a capital “U.”
Do you think anyone in my family would even take notice at my condition and say, “Mom, is there anything I can get you? Green tea or chicken soup?” HUH! You’ve got to be frickin’ crazy! Not only that, the sink sat piled with high with dishes, the laundry room floor growing a mountain of dirty towels and clothes, and in general, no one even makes an attempt at cleaning up after themselves. There are stacks and piles of clean clothes that people walk by 100 times a day, and it seems to never occur to them to take the stuff up and put it away, or fold it. I’m lying there, trapped in a body that doesn’t want to get up, thinking about all the things in my house that need to be tended to. The loft is a mess, my kitchen isn’t suitable for even a neighbor to visit, and I’m feeling terrible, and despite it all, I still feel like I should be doing something about it.
There are times on a normal day, I’ll make a pot of coffee and bring my 20 year old son a cup of hot coffee, just the way he likes it, just because. I love him and it makes me happy to do unexpected nice things for him. In fact, I do it more often than not. My husband gets waited on most of the day (sometimes reluctantly on my part.) but, still he gets taken care of. In fact, if I really think about it, I’m giving and giving all day long and not getting much in return. I thought being a living example is the way you teach others to be the same way.
Yesterday was garbage day and I asked my oldest if he would take the little bit of trash out to the curb on his way to the train yesterday morning. He either didn’t hear me, or he ignored me, but all the same, he failed to put the garbage out and take the pizza boxes out from the kitchen. I am lying on the couch, looking into my kitchen and I can see the pizza boxes stacked on top of the garbage. I hear the garbage men in front of my house, so I run out, weak and feeling green and I hand the guy the pizza boxes and roll over the can of garbage that my son should have done hours ago.
What does it take for people to ‘get it?’ I don’t understand. When I was a kid, it was automatic to do nice things for people, and to have sympathy for them when they were ill. I wanted to take care of them in some way. Am I raising a houseful of sociopaths?
I would love to go on strike, to really stick it to them. Just to show them how crappy I feel. Oh, by the way, my husband’s no better. Yesterday, while I was green with flu, he told me to drive to the bank and make his tax deposit, when he could have done it for me, just this once. But, on principle, he firmly said, “NO”. I went and made his damn deposit, but he just better watch while he has his back to me on the sofa. He just might find a butter knife stuck in it.
So, how shall I end this ramble of woe? I guess I can say I deserve it. After all, I made those kids what they are and obviously, I did a poor job. My husband is a shining example of how to treat a sick wife, so why should my kids do any different? What I get when I complain about this kind of thing is that I’m the bitch. Well, I suppose that makes me a bitch then.
I’m going to NYC the second week of October and instead of feeling the guilt I usually feel when I leave my family for a weekend, I’m not going to look back. I deserve this mini getaway from them. I’ve taken enough crap to last me a lifetime and I’m tired of it. Maybe then, they’ll see what its like for a few days with out mom and all she does for them and my husband will see what its like without a servant on duty. Only then, after my absense, will they, possibly, but not likely, appreciate me.
This morning, I sat down with a silky rolling pen and began my 3 page brain dump. It was EASY! It was effortless, actually. I just started a thought and one led to another and began flowing out of my pen onto the paper. I didn’t do 3 pages as the book instructed, but continued on to 4 because I wasn’t finished after 3. It only took me about 15 minutes and I did it with my morning coffee.
If you havn’t done this, may I suggest it? If anything, it ‘frees’ you a bit from the junk swimming around in your mind. Just get it out on paper and let it go.
What is a brain dump? It’s my term for the first step in unblocking my creativity and opening up a conscious stream of ideas. I am reading The Artists Way, and this is the beginning of the regaining creativity process.
We are instructed to write in the morning, Julia calls them ‘morning papers’, but they feel more to me like ‘taking adaily brain dump’. We are told to write down anything that comes to mind. It can be sentences, words, feelings, things on our mind, worries, joys, things that are making us angry, prayers, you name it, you write it. We must write even if we don’t feel like it…it doesn’t matter what we write, as long as we write. We must compose three pages of conscious stream every morning. If I’m understanding her instructions correctly, by writing things down as they pop in our head, enables us to let out all the things in our mind that are clogging our thoughts, which ultimately blocks our creativity. She also claims by writing things down, we submit them to the universe and enable them to be tended to in some wonderous way. There are testimonials from people who’ve been doing this for years and it’s changed their lives. When I saw Julia in person last week, I asked her if one can do their morning papers by typing them out on the computer. She said no. They have to be hand written. Only by hand writing them can the emotion be spilled out. We can highlight, write fast, slow, small or large to demonstrate to ourselves how we feel about what we’re writing. One thing: Morning papers are not for anyone to read. They aren’t even for us to reread. They have to be left alone for a while. At least for now.
I’m willing to try this. I am going to go through her 12 step process to creative joy. The second requirement after daily morning papers, is to have an ‘artist’s date’ once a week with ourselves. No one is invited. This is something we must do on our own. It is a way to nuture our ‘inner artist’ by doing activities that enable us to revel in the things we love which will hopefully inspire us and fill us with ideas. An artist date can be going to a gallery, museum, movie, on a long walk, a visit to the library, flea market, whatever we enjoy that pulls at our heartstrings and enables us to enjoy being with ourselves. We must do it a minimum of 2 hours per week. I have to make sure I get that accomplished, too. You don’t have to twist my arm to get me to go out and do something by myself for myself. Admittedly, I’m selfsh like that.
Have any of you out there started the exercises in this wonderful book? Let me know your experiences and the outcome. Have you become more creative and has this process changed your life in a positive way? Let me know.
My amazingly crocheted Comfort Bag…the flowers are beautiful!
A few month’s back, Kai had a great idea….since gas prices are so astronomical and it makes it very difficult to travel anywhere cheap, let’s have a ‘Vacation in a Box Swap’. We signed up on her blog and she assigned us our partners. We got to know eachother through email. My partner was Rebecca, and we clicked from the very start! We have very similiar tastes, and have enjoyed our long distance friendship since we ‘met’.
Rebecca’s idea came from my blog post a few month’s ago about ‘comfort boxes.’ She read what I would want to be in mine, and she took the idea and ran with it. Oh, did she spoil me! I now not only have a place where I can go that reminds me of all the things I love, but, I can bring it with me where ever I go. Thank you Rebecca!
Yesterday, sitting on my front porch was this box, and was it ever stuffed with Goodness! I opened up the box and found at the top a letter which I read first…she told me where she was ‘taking’ me, and instructed me to stop reading at the end of the first page and begin opening each item. Only when I was finished, could I begin reading the second page. She explained about each item she sent, and I was so incredibly touched by her thoughtfulness. She didn’t leave out a thing, and she added extras! That little box was stuffed to the gills with wonderfully fun stuff….here is what was inside:
A lovely yellow hand crocheted ‘comfort bag’ to hold the items. I took a close up of the intricate work…it’s amazing. Bec, you have to teach me how to crochet like that!
A copy of Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austin
The sweetest little handmade doll to remind me of my favorite pastime.
Micro spun lavender yarn with vintage knitting needles….You should feel this stuff-it’s like butta!
A CD of Edith Piaf’s greatest hits. Rebecca says they are French songs to upload onto my Nano-I haven’t listened to this yet, but I just bet its perfect! How did she know I love French music? See, I told you we were a lot alike!
A small photo album to hold the photos of my kids, my father and my cats (and my hubby!)
A small candle and matches
Green tea and Splenda
Delicious polker chip chocolates from Vegas, a deck of cards from a Vegas casino and vintage score cards.
Vintage fat quarters of fabric-a delight to touch
Fragrance samples to delight my nose
A book mark of a Tascha mermaid painting to delight my eyes(I love this!)
Fresh lavender in a sachet hand made and cross stitched with lavender springs-hand done by Rebecca.
A bottle of Valerian herb capsules to promote restful sleep (which I haven’t been getting much of lately. Thank you, Bec!)
New York souvineers (my fav city!) Tapestry post cards from the MET, keychain, China Town goodies…
A journal and Martha Stewart archival pens to document everything in this blond head of mine!
Take a look at these photos-click on them to enlarge them and see how she blessed me with the greatest stuff…I had such fun going through it all and had to paw through it again last night just because.
I’m going to pack most of this in my ‘comfort bag’ and bring it along with me to NYC in Oct. when I visit REBECCA in New York City!
Look at that face! Absolutely adorable!
Why Jane 
