The Grateful Project: Day Twenty Three

I am grateful for the ability to say "No, I'm taking a little break right now."

Which is what I'm doing with the rest of my week.

Today I will spend a leisurely day in the kitchen with tofu and vegan stuffing, I'll clean the house, take a shower, spend time with close friends, and then wake up and do it all again tomorrow.

I am grateful for the time needed to do just that.  I'll be back next week, but in the meantime, have a beautiful holiday, visit the shops for discounted teas and roving, and I'm so grateful for you!

P.S. Happy birthday to my dearest best friend, Ally!

The Grateful Project: Days Twenty One and Twenty Two

I am grateful for string and what it does for me and what it turns into and how it inspires.

I am grateful for sitting next to the fire with yarn in hand, a cup of tea at my side, and creating something beautiful out of a ball of string and two pointy sticks.

String keeps me warm
relaxes me into sleep
keeps idle hands busy.

I am grateful for sheep, goats, and rabbits. For the clouds that makes my house light and dark again as the wind pushes them around the sky.  I am grateful for socks, fuzzy boots, scarves, and playing cribbage in bed with a cat curled up on my feet.

I am grateful for this month of gratitude.

The Grateful Project: Days Nineteen and Twenty

I am grateful for escape.

Friday morning, this is what my house looked like:

And this is what I did about it:

I am so grateful for days spent away.  On Friday the lobster and I took a rainy two hour drive up highway one to Half Moon Bay where we went to our favorite pub (Cameron's) for drinks and sandwiches (I had a sauteed veggie sandwich hold the cheese and it was VERY yummy for being vegan pub food), played some Trivial Pursuit while we waited for our food, and then went to Starbucks for a cup of dessert-like coffee (soy, no whip) on the way home.

We took the long way home and stopped to see my parents where we had good conversation and more sandwiches (hamburgers for the rest of them).

It was such a lovely break from reality and it felt so good to unplug from the computer and see different scenery.

On Saturday (day twenty) I was grateful for the time and space to clean up the aforementioned wreck.  Because there is just something about a clean and organized office that weeps with inspiration.

How do you deal with the wreck of the day?

The Grateful Project: Day Eighteen

Today I am grateful for my place of inspiration.

There's something about walking into a yarn store that just gets me all in a tizzy.  I love the colors, the textures, the overwhelming desire to touch everything, put it against my skin, smell the wool.

Short post today, I'm still working on getting my shop up to date... Almost there!  No word from etsy, but take advantage of my new shop with code goodriddanceetsy at checkout for 15% off your total purchase.  Roving update tomorrow, lots of SW Merino and Alpaca/Merino/Silk!

Guest Post: Chris from Backcountry Bliss

Gratitude Project: Day 17

When Brie's Etsy store went kaput (it's likley she is not especially grateful for severe glitches right now) I immediately contacted her and asked if I could run a guest post.

The problem is, I hadn't the foggiest idea of what to write about which would be of any interest to her readers (thats you!). For my blog, backcountrybliss.net I write about backpacking, cooking soup in a can, beards, and other manly outdoors things.

Surely though, since Brie and I have been friends for the better part of a decade we must have some common ground other than our equal love of sushi dinners and vino.

So while I am grateful for friends like Brie (as well as things like sushi and wine), what I am perhaps most grateful for is what unites us in common cause. We both have passion. When I head up into the mountains to visit Fall Creek Fiber's headquarters (which is coincidentally near one of my favorite trailheads) I am reminded of the shared drive we have to involve ourselves in the things we love, be it knitting by the fire at home, or swapping stories by the fire in the wind swept high sierra.

In the past year its that drive that's kept me constantly moving, photographing, writing, and sharing my passion with the world. Today I am grateful for that passion.


Brie here! This is where I tell you how grateful I am for talented friends like Chris who takes time out of his busy schedule to help me keep you entertained.  This is also where you should all demand that Chris starts selling his photographs... Because they are incredible.  All photos in this post are copyright backcountrybliss.net.

The Grateful Project: Day Fifteen

Today I am grateful for the process.

When I get stressed or bummed out, I can go two ways.  One way involves eating things that are bad for me (macaroni and cheese please!) and spending a lot of time on the couch with Grey's Anatomy.  The other way involves getting busy.

I pack things up, reorganize, re-photograph, do yoga, do the dishes, clean the bathroom, scrub the sinks, take out the recycling, work work work.

And today I am grateful for that process because it keeps me going through the days in a positive way.  How do you deal with your swirly days?

The Grateful Project: Day Fourteen

No photos today, sorry.  Today I feel the need to remind myself of the little things.

I am grateful for:
yummy smelling candles
Starbucks red cups
my best friend (okay, this is a big one but she drove all the way over the hill to hang out with me twice this week, which I really really appreciate)
the cute boy at Staircase Tattoo who pierced my nostril today, he was very good.
new yoga pants
my ipod genius that made a rocking playlist from Jenny Owen Youngs Here's a Heart
heating pads
books I can get lost in
my customers/friends
handmade quilts
etsy.com
watching Christmas movies a month early
leftover bean and rice hold the cheese burritos
my cats
the way I feel when I nourish my soul
Black Walnut Cafe
soy chai
amazon.com
all natural bath products
my yoga DVD
sleeping in the middle of the bed

More tomorrow. Hope everyone had a lovely weekend!

The Grateful Project: Day Thirteen

Today I am grateful for peace and quiet.

I didn't know how to take a picture of that.  So instead I grabbed a bunch of pictures I've taken of quiet moments in my home over the past month or so. The pictures on the right are from last weekend after we came home from that delicious brunch at Saturn Cafe... Sean sat down and put his hat over his eyes and within minutes was cat napping with two of the kitties of the house.  Doesn't get much more peaceful or blissed out than that.

The photos on the left are of my front door/porch and my office window sill.  These places are quiet.

I have the weekend to myself and my living room has been swept and cleaned, work has been finished or put on hold, candles are burning and any minute now I'll be breaking out the knitting.  What are you up to this fine Saturday?

P.S. I've so enjoyed reading the comments about your home towns!  They make me feel like I'm taking a little visit to somewhere else.  If you haven't joined in on the action, please share!

The Grateful Project: Day Twelve

Today I am grateful for the walk down to my mail box.

I walk it twice, sometimes three times, a day, every day.  First to put something in it, then to take something out.  Sometimes when the 3:30p lull hits I walk down the driveway (left picture) just for the heck of it.  To let the dog sniff around, to snap a picture or two, to take a breath.  I'm usually wearing my slippers and take it slowly, walking for exercise comes later.  This walk is just for pleasure.

I'm also grateful for the USPS and their understanding about my nine million packages that go in and out on a regular basis.

I hope everyone is having a magical Friday!

The Grateful Project: Day Eleven

Today I am grateful for my mom.

I was curled up on the couch yesterday with a kids movie (Ratatouille) and my favorite quilt (left picture) yesterday thinking about my family and how much I'm glad they're mine.  Especially my mom.  She's good.

She passed on her amazing color sense.
She's a silent cheerleader, always willing to lend an ear and a hand when you're down.
She always encouraged us to be ourselves.
She makes the best soups.
She's always a phone call away, whether it be because you need to tell someone really good news or because you have a cold and need Mom's recipe for 'get well soon'.
Her home is the most inviting and warm home you've ever been in.
She's incredibly talented in all kinds of ways.

She's blushing as she reads this.

I'm happy to call her my mom.

The Grateful Project: Day Ten

Today I am grateful for Felton, California.

I like that there's only about fifteen business but two of them are health food stores, one is a yoga studio, and three are fun places to shop for clothes and eco-friendly gifts.  Oh, and not to mention a tattoo place.

I love that the elderly owner of the hardware store knows my name and always says 'What are we painting today my dear?' when I walk in the door.

I love that there are two Chinese restaurants, two Mexican, and two pizza joints but nowhere to get a decent salad.

I love that there are only two streets and one stop light.  And that this little town is nestled only fifteen minutes from downtown Santa Cruz for when I need a bit more hustle than two streets and one stop light.

I love that it's in the mountains and feels really far away but in reality it only takes twenty minutes to real civilization, twenty minutes to the ocean, forty minutes to family, and ten minutes to really good sushi.

I love living here.  What do you love about your town?

The Grateful Project: Day Nine

Today I am grateful for my favorite pair of shoes.

Those that know me in real life are smiling and shaking their heads right now because I'm dedicating an entire day to these boots.  But consider this... One, the boots are awesome.  And two, there are so many people in the world without shoes of any kind.  Which makes being grateful for my favorite shoes a perfectly acceptable thing to blog about.

Two years ago to the month my dad bought these shoes for me in a little store in downtown Santa Cruz. Two years.  Two years!  These boots are still going strong.  Sure, they're a little scuffed up, and the lining is unattached inside one of the boots (did I mention they have faux fur lining? They do. Oh, and they're water proof.) but after 2 years of constant wear (and we're taking six days a week here) these boots are still my favorite pair of shoes and are holding up remarkably well.

I wish I could find the clip for you, but have you see Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium?  There's a part in the movie where Mr. Magorium (played brilliantly by Dustin Hoffman) is explaining that he is coming to the end of his life and he says "Do you see these shoes?  I found them in a little shop in Tuscany.  I fell so completely in love with these shoes, I bought enough pairs to last my whole lifetime. This is my last pair."

That's how I feel about these shoes.They are Santana Mika boots in black suede and today they are on sale on amazon... I think I'll buy a new pair for when these finally bite the dust.




P.S. A note on buying leather shoes:  I have a guilt problem with buying leather because a cow had to die for my feet to be warm.  But then I look at it this way... Think about all the other shoes I haven't had to buy because these shoes are so amazing and durable.   Because I haven't bought new boots of any kind in two years, going on three, I've saved the world shoes in a landfill, needless commercialism, and the energy it would have taken to pollute the environment with one more synthetic pair of shoes.  Even though I sound justified, I still feel guilty and say a little thank you to the cow that died for my feet.

The Grateful Project: Day Eight

Today I am grateful for Saturn Cafe.

When eating vegan (or at least a lactose intolerant vegetarian) it is super easy to get discouraged about the food in your fridge or the places you can go to eat. As I'm making the transition from cheese eating to non, it's important for me to feel like I'm not depriving myself, to feel full, to eat richly.  And let's face it, eating a bowl of green beans doesn't exactly cut it every time.  Luckily for me, I live in a lovely place where there are vegan/vegetarian restaurants in abundance and where I can get pretty much any kind of food I'm craving.

Even a bacon cheeseburger with barbecue sauce and onion rings.  And sweet potato french fries.  And a chocolate raspberry cupcake.  All vegan, all delicious.  Even the meat munching man of the house likes it at Saturn Cafe.

What are you grateful for today?

The Grateful Project: Day Seven

Today I am grateful for days spent lazily.

After a very busy and wonderful week I awoke yesterday feeling a bit run down. So instead of the usual routine I popped in a movie and enjoyed the cloudy weather from my couch with my knitting.

I am also grateful for my favorite mug and yerba mate lattes.  My brother saw this mug in a previous Etsy Finds blog post and bought it for me for Christmas last year.  I use it every day.  Gabe, if you're reading, thank you!

It's raining here today and I finished a new hat for my bestie.  I don't think purple is her favorite color anymore, but it was when we met (we were twelve) so she's still a purple person to me.  In other knitting news, I bought some really lovely Quince and Co. yarn from a kind raveler yesterday and now I'm on the lookout for the perfect scarf pattern.  And my last (or second to last if I want to keep that lovely blue shawl) Christmas shawl is almost complete.

Today life is simple.

The Grateful Project: Day Six

Today I am grateful for fall colors.

Today is cloudy and a storm is coming in.  The neighborhood is alive with last minute preparations... Leaf blowers, chain saws, the battening of hatches.  Any minute now the rain will start and it will quiet again.

I love autumn.

The Grateful Project: Day Five

What would a gratitude list be without including bed time?

My bed is one of my favorite things in the world.  I love cozying up with a good book or movie at the end of the day and feeling the weight of my blankets on my feet.  It's where brilliant ideas are hatched, kitty cuddles happen, and dreams take me to far off lands.  I reset here, and every morning I lay quietly for a few minutes and give thanks for the day ahead of me.

It's a place of rebirth.

The Grateful Project: Day Four

Today I am grateful for hot showers in the afternoon and natural soaps.

The natural cycle of my day goes something like this: Wake up at 8:30a, get right to work, take a 15 minute break with breakfast and my book or journal, back to work, eat lunch in front of the computer, take a break at 3:00p for yoga and a smoothie and a hot shower, work for another hour or so, make yummy food and eat with the lobster, play a game of cribbage or dominoes together, stick in a movie and knit or spin or finish up work stuff until bed time around 1:00a.

My favorite time of day?  Yoga/smoothie/shower.  Hands down.  It'd be your favorite time of day, too, if you had that view from your shower every day.

P.S. The amazing soap is Lavender Patchouli scented deliciousness from DeShawnMarie.  I also recommend her Sugar Lime and Tangerine Birch.

The Grateful Project: Day Three

Day three: I am grateful for yoga.  And my favorite crazy pants.

Very recently I decided to take up yoga (again).  I've practiced yoga on and off from the time I was 14 and my mother (bless her) sneaked me into her Thursday night yoga class at the local library and community center.  It was a Hatha Yoga class... Easy, calming, centering.  To this day it is still my favorite kind of yoga.

And exactly the kind of yoga I've been practicing to get back in the swing of things.

On Saturday night I had the house to myself and I was feeling a little bit swirly.  I had been working from the couch for the past week due to the lack of heat in my office and my bones and body were feeling weary.  I had also been stuffing myself full of Halloween inspired cupcakes and eating junk food.  I mean, true junk food.  Like, Jack in the Box stuffed jalapeños junk food.  And my body was fed up with it.

So I stuck in my gentlest yoga DVD and rolled out my mat and moved my body around in ways it hasn't moved in about six months.  I had to do three repetitions of the half hour tape in order to feel the benefits, but eventually my body gave in to the breathing and meditation and began to heal itself.  The first half an hour was pure torture and release, all in one.

I've kept up the rhythm and have done an hour of yoga a day for three days and I hope to make it a daily routine.  I have so much more energy throughout the day, my work has become easier, my mind clearer.

And I'm going vegan (again) for the month of November.  More news on that as it progresses.

What are you grateful for today?

P.S. I am also grateful for my little brother, who was born exactly 20 years ago today.  Happy birthday little brother!

The Grateful Project: Day Two

Day Two: I am grateful for mornings.

In the mornings I spend time with breakfast (this morning it was steel cut oatmeal with chopped walnuts and all-fruit apricot jam) and my journal or a cookbook and grocery list.  I sit in the sun at my kitchen table and soak in the day, plan meals, write lists, or catch up on a chapter in my latest book.  I really treasure the quiet moments where the house is still and slowly warming from the fire and the birds are bustling about outdoors.

Sean spends mornings playing his video games with Wilson.

What are you grateful for today?  Leave a comment with your list or photo!

November: The Grateful Project

Gratitude Day One: I am grateful for my camera.

I've decided to begin a photo project, because I really miss my camera.  He (yes, my camera is a he. I call him Edgar.) and I have been a bit on the off the past few weeks.  We get along just fine when there are yarns, fibers, or teas involved, but anything other than product photos and we start fighting.

When talking shop a few days ago with my good friend Chris, he mentioned that repetition breeds perfection.  Wait, what?  Practice makes perfect?  Never heard of it.  Well, Chris in his infinite wisdom had a good point.  When I look at the product photos from the beginning of my business adventure compared to the photos I take now, it's easy to see why my camera and I get along so well when product photos are involved.  I practiced.

Andover, my goal for November is to take a photo a day of things I'm grateful for.  Things other than yarn, fiber, and tea, although I am eternally grateful for those three things (read: my livelihood).  Repetition breeds perfection.  Join me won't you?  A practice of gratitude for one month.  Plus, this gets me out of NaBloPoMo.