The Space Between Part 1

Last Friday I found myself arriving at a very special event that I had been looking forward too for a while.
I think it’s beneficial to my being to schedule a couple of weekends a year to get together with other girls and harvest the creative side of my brain...  I have found that this experience fills me with hope and joyfulness.  It also gives me something to look forward to.  I think it’s really important to plan that stuff out.  You should try it… If I had the money and the time I would go to as many retreats as possible.  

This past Friday my friend Charleen and I arrived at The Space Between Art retreat put on by a Patty Waite.  I live in Sunny San Diego, so imagine my surprise when we drove an hour and a half away to Palomar Mountain and it was snowing.  When we arrived I was so happy our beautiful Cabin.  It was so “Fancy”…  My favorite part of any retreat, once I get past the nervousness, is making new friends and looking through the goody bags. (Patty made great goody bags) Patty had put together some really great power points and we did some really fun word exercises. It was very sweet and cozy with candles lit, the fireplace burning and watching the snowfall through the huge picture windows.

By the time we arrived it was late and we went to bed soon after that. OK wait yes a couple of us stayed up and talked for hours. When we woke up the next day Patty had arranged for one of the girls, who lives on the mountain, to take us on a hike.  Terri led us on a three-mile jaunt and shared with us all the history of Mt. Palomar... It was so cool to be walking among the huge trees while walking on the crisp snow. It was a great treat for this girl. Here we are exploring...

We hiked for about 3 miles and just took it all in.

Hanging with my girlfriends is one the top ten things I love to do.
Ok I will post all about our art tomorrow.
have a happy Thursday
xoxo
G

I love Art Retreats !!!!

I love love Art Retreats !!!
I really had to get that in there.. I was lucky enough to get to attend the Space Between at Palomar Mountain. The retreat leader is Patti Waitte and she wrote a great blog post about it...
check it out here..
I will tell you all about tomorrow.
If you have the chance to attend something like this. I highly recommend it..
xoxo
G

Sweet November..

Last  night I was walking and when I looked up I saw a heart in the sky right next to the moon. Do you see it ? The first person I thought of was my friend Chrissy. She loves hearts and because of her I look for them now and its crazy there are hearts everywhere if you just look. Its amazing the friendships I have been able to keep after attending
The be Present Retreat put on by Liz.
I had so much fun and I had one of the most beautiful experiences of my life, so this afternoon I will be driving with my dear friend to the mountains near San Diego where they are expecting snow!!
To attend
 The space between Creativity Retreat.
I cant wait to share what I am sure is going to be a beautiful experience.
OK so have a wonderful weekend and I will share my journal and painting and whatever other yummy-ness I may encounter.. Have a great weekend and don't forget to look up at the moon you may see a heart..
xoxo
G

Little Mexican Village

I am passionate about how much I love the colors that Hispanics use to paint their art. I love the brightness of the art. They make me smile. Not to long ago I was invited to my moms friends ranch in Ensenada, Mexico for a surprise birthday party.  The entire ranch was bright pink and bright yellow. The decorations included bright colored turtles and day of the dead skeletons, that look to be having a great time. Every were I looked there was color.  I remember thinking oh my I love this!!!!  Living in San Diego I forget how attracted I am to Hispanic Art.  Once I see it I love it all over again.
The other day I googled Mexican art and came across so many pieces of work that reminded me of the happy Mexican village I saw.  I just loved it. I  don't know the name of the artist that inspired me but I painted my own rendition of the village I saw. 

This is it..The sweet little village.

I added some glitter because every little village in my head has glitter in the sky.

Once while walking down a street in Cabo San Lucas there was a man selling lots of sandals just like the ones on these little key chains.  The man had made the sandals by hand.  I remember all the bright colors he used.  I regret not buying a pair for myself.  I would have chosen the orange ones.. I am in love with all the bright colors... so pretty
Have a colorful day
xoxo
G

Dia de los Muertos Celebration

The day of the dead celebration was so much fun. I think this was the first one I have attended . It was so much fun. When you first walk into the Mission Grounds they let you do a chalk drawing for your loved ones that have passed then they put carnations on them. It was so cool to look at.

I did Isabella's make up before we left .. I should of done mine too..next year I will.

My favorite part was the Ballet Florclorico. It was amazing. They had a Mariachi and the dancing was so good . So what they do is tell stories through there dances.

 The girls are so beautiful with there traditional Mexican dresses. 

This girl has on the dead bride costume . Love it !!!

So much fun..

Bella and Kiffer had a great time too..

I love the bright colors and all the the Mexican traditions...It was a perfect Sunday..
Hope you had a great weekend too.

Happy Halloween

Happy Halloween from my favorite little monsters !!!!

Miss G..

Dear G...
You are will be moving soon and I am so proud of you..
Today you will find a house to rent and you will make it a wonderful home for your kids . It will be warm and have  a really good vibe to it. In this house you will create your own memories.. You will be happy and your kids will know it. Yes, this is a big deal but just let it happen and don't get caught up on what you don't have... instead just look at all you do have.
This is going to an amazing journey and you need to remember how wonderful you are..
You can do this
and
you can do it well..
So just fly my sweet girl and when things get scary just hand that over to God and he will give you the strength you need..
No more doubting
smile big
.....
be you
.....
go forward
G
p.s.
this is my mantra for right now..I have it written on a piece of paper and I am reading it to myself many times a day... 

12 things I am grateful for...

The things I am grateful for on this Thursday night are..

I am grateful for the smell of pumpkin pie candles.

and yes the actual pie is better but the candle last longer.

I am grateful for that moment when I  first get in the shower and the water is perfectly warm.

I am grateful for my neighbors yard ..its filled with leaves and when I look at them I smile.

I am grateful for those people who believe in now.

I am grateful for warm afternoons when I am sitting by a window and I can feel the warmth on my back.

I am grateful that I can go whenever I want. 

( need a road trip soon)

I am grateful for my my sister when she gives me big hugs..and just hold me..we should all just hug the people we love and not let go...for a while 

I am grateful for the memories of sweet moments that bring me right back to that place. 

I am grateful for the act of putting my warm hands on my face. It feels sweet.

I am grateful for things we see in store windows that make our heart go crazy..

Like fox cardigans

But what fills me with gratitude this day is holding my little sisters sweet little hands...

I hope you know how special you are and that with a grateful heart you and me and us...are going to be more that just OK.

xoxo

G

Mon Petit Chateau..and her dream came true

My sister made her dream come true. She opened her own store. Its a huge and beautiful. A place for where children can pretend that they are in a magical kingdom. The clothes are provided.. You can dress up as a knight or maybe a pink fairy princess with butterfly wings. Your options are limitless.. and guess what there is magical train that will take you were ever your imagination desires. 

Children's eyes light up and of they go. My sister had a vision and she made it come true. She wanted to have birthday parties kids could remember for ever. She also saw a little cafe...The mommy cafe. In this mommy cafe you could get excellent coffee and pastries while you watch you child play.

She has created a play were both moms and children can relax and have magical day. The moms can pretend they are at a french bistro because ohh lala ...Its so shabby chick.

The best part she is full time hands on mommy with a big heart and Im so proud of her...

Big congratulations to my beautiful sister...
xoxo
G
p.s. If your in san Diego and want to take your kids to a magical place to play or would like to book any kind of party.. Look up Mon petit Chateau...in chula Vista..

A sweet sunday tune

A week of journaling...done

This week I challenged myself to journal for a week. I did it ( yeah me ) and I am glad I did. I think its very therapeutic to not think and just write and draw and water paint. Water paints are fun because you can really relax and get in touch with that kid inside of you that just wants to paint.

its fun to see pretty things show up on you paper.

My favorite saying  that I heard in my head was do not be afraid for I am with you always.

Does that ever happen to you ? Your writing in your journal and there it is ...That message you needed to hear ? I really try to clear my mind and listen to for it..Once in a while I hear it..
OK so I love journals
I love pens
I love pencils
I love watercolors
I love letting go AND just creating
WHATEVER.
ITS
FUN
XOXO
G

A trip to the Pumpkin Patch

The other day we went to buy our pumpkin and while there we were told that we could not purchase the biggest pumpkin they had...We were very upset..

Evidently the big Pumpkin is for display purposes only!!!

After the playing of a game and  winning a huge rubber bat our mood changed completely.

Somehow life was better, the pumpkin didn't matter anymore and we were all smiles...
Hope you have a warm and happy Wednesday.
xoxo
G

Good Morning Miss Monday !!!

Good Morning, I have been thinking about what I will challenge myself with this week. I thought about doing something that scares me like last week and I know it was only red lipstick but it made me a bit more brave to just get over not doing something because of what someone else might think..I thought I would look silly but by mid week I thought I looked rather fancy ! So this week I thought what I would do is something I want to do but just keep putting off ...

I am going to write in my Art  Journal everyday for 7 days..I am going to write my grateful list and do all my homework for an upcoming retreat I will attend in 2 weeks. I will write a story or two and seven days from now I will have at least 10 pages done in my fancy homemade journal.

This is not something that scares me but its something that I just do not do...I would like to but I dont..Thats all going to change this week. Then Monday I can share what I learned..about myself.

I hope you can make sometime to journal or draw or write some poetry this week. Do whatever is is that your heart ask you to do..mine wants me to write so starting today I will do just that...
Happy Monday
xoxo
G

A Sunday Morning tune

Red Lipstick day 5 and other stuff

I had a -lot of fun wearing red lipstick this week..I don't wear it often but I am going to now.
I felt a little afraid to wear red..but not anymore.. I now this was a silly week of blogging but sometimes silly is good...getting over little fears is good too..even if its a fear that's as silly a wearing red lipstick!!!
OK so
Its Friday night and I am on my couch thinking about what other thing is challenging me right now,
What challenge could I try for next week..
Do you have some small thing that you could try to overcome next week..
maybe something you would like to do but your a tad afraid too..
or maybe the challenge just feels to big..
baby steps works for me. Instead of looking at the big picture maybe just trying it for 5 days would be a good start..You know feeling it out.
I have not really ran for more than 2 days in a week since my last 50k that I couldn't finish..
I haven't really felt like running but my mood would be way better if I ran at least 5 days next week..but for me that would mean going early in the morning and I don't like getting up early so 
yeah..it would mean getting up yucky early and exercising...
OK so that's were my brain is....
xoxo
G

What I am grateful for today !!

So I had to write my grateful list today !
It was calling me.
I am grateful for the Ideas that fill my head..
Ideas of pretty little paintings.
The time it took to create them.
The state of mind your head is in when one gets to play with paints.
The five letter word Peace..
Peace that I pray will fill my heart.
Peace that we pray the world will find.
Peace that surrounds us when we stop to look.
The hope that this word brings..
Peace
May that word be with all of us...

I am grateful for the world outside my house.
I am grateful that we have fresh air and cool nights.
I am grateful for the earth under my feet.
I am grateful that the beach is close enough I can run there.
I am grateful for who ever invented making wishes...
For when we close our eyes and make a wish our heart is full of hope.
We believe...
That a little bit of magic we all have.

I am so grateful for a good cup of coffee....
I grateful for foam I drink at the bottom that is followed with a bit of sugar...
The sugar I put in the coffee that went straight to the bottom and is waiting for me.
I love drinking my coffee fast.
since I wait for it to be kinda warm, I have to drink it fast or it will be cold..yuck cold coffee!!
I am grateful for the past month that I have spent with my little sister.
xoxo
G

Day 3

On day 3...I found this tutorial and I wanted to share...why because ohh..I am loving this Red Lipstick
Maybe my collection of one red lip stick will grow...
happy day
xoxo
G

Red Lipstick day 2

Red Lipstick Day 2..
Tuesday was a full day and I wore  my red lipstick...Its not as red in the picture because this was taken late..
I spent the day with my little sister and then ran of at 4 to pick up my 3 kids make dinner and then go back to downtown to meet my dad for our date night. Last night we went to see
The Rocky Horror Picture Show..

The Old Globe is a beautiful Place in Balboa Park were they show lots of great plays. My dad and I go to about 8 a year. Its that time of year again. 

There are three theaters here, some bigger than others but they're beautiful. 

My dad and I ...getting ready to go back in after the intermission...Do I think anyone should see this play with there dad??? no
I honestly did not really like the play. I don't think I understood it to well, I am very glad I got to spend time with my dad though...and I wore my red lipstick too.....