the past week around here

 The days have been full of pumpkins, school parties and trick or treating over here...my sweet girl picks out her own costume now and, of course, it's all about the princesses!! Tara wanted to be Jasmine and she just brought her to life...what do you think?? All we needed was the magic carpet, right:) She is growing up waaaay fast...it takes my breath away and brings me to tears sometimes.But I am relishing all of our time together...tea parties on the floor of her bedroom, photowalks, singing, reading and baking. She is the jewel of our lives...truly.

My sweet girl and I...me being a witchy-poo:) I was going to be an Indian princess but it was just too much work to get both me and Tara all gussied up. Besides...only one princess allowed per house, you know:)

Loving the crisp (and sometimes very cold) Fall walks around here. The colors are simply breathtaking...stunning. And I love pointing stuff out to Tara...getting her out in nature under the blue gray skies...crunchy russet leaves under our feet.Bliss. bliss. and more bliss.

 

We celebrated Diwali this weekend. Truthfully...I haven't really done that in past years with Tara but as she gets older, I really want her to have a complete sense of the richness and complexity of her identity. I am starting to buy her a few Indian clothes (what's not to love...bright colors and sparkles???) and explain certain cultural aspects I'm proud of. As she gets older...I will explain more. And, of course, I want to take her to India one day!!!  

Loving loving loving my e-course with Brene. I am somehow processing way more listening to Brene talk  and answer questions than just from reading the book.She's sharing her own journey and life path with us and talks of the importance of creating the space to do our work...to do this work. She also shared (in this morning's video) the difference between striving for excellence (wanting to be our best) vs perfectionism ("what will they think???"). So many aha!!! moments, I can barely stand it!!!

xxx

things are coming together

(this afternoon-working on some backgrounds)

Life has been hectic over here in a good way...even though I am exhausted!! I managed to squeeze in a little bit of painting time this afternoon while Tara was napping and that replenished me...filled me up. I am so much more efficient now that I am a mom... there's no time for procrastinating; every minute counts!! I prioritise now (out of necessity!!) and am better able to make use of my time. I also appreciate the times when I can relax, take a hot bath, enjoy a cup of tea, read a magazine undisturbed (all things I took for granted pre mom days!!). So...here's what's been going on over here:

* trying to do all sorts of projects (big + small around the house). I am really loving the way things are turning out. I have been planning things in my head for months and writing ideas down in my journal...so when it all comes together it makes me happy:)

* trying to set up my office; it's so much more difficult than I imagined. My printer/scanner/computer etc are all in the guest bathroom right now so gotta' get them in my office and running so I can open up my Etsy shop again!!

(self portrait taken with timer)

* really working on updating my website...the pic I have posted on my home page is a wedding pic from...6 years ago!!! It's gotta' go!!

* I just received some super fantastic news today that has me flying across the moon. Seriously. Can't wait to share it with you all.

* I finally got my hands on the March Somerset Studio and...am just beaming to read my article in there. It's just something else altogether to actually physically hold the magazine and see my work + words + heart + soul on the pages. I am so grateful and thrilled.

*I have been taking some pics. (self portraits + others) for my website. I had so much fun doing it because I just started playing around and having a good time.

* working on the changes I want to make to my blog. Oh!! How I hate hate hate figuring out HTML stuff!!! It seriously frustrates me to no end!!

(self portrait with brushes + paintings)

So...that's it for now. I hope you all are doing well + I will be stopping by soon. xxx