French pressed and happy.

There are few things in life that make me happier than a cup of joe 

{after a night of one too many glasses of vino.}

The local wine bar has a habit of booking awesome music on Wednesday and Thursdays-- they also have a habit of providing delicious house wines, and I have a habit of occasionally over-indulging myself.

This morning I woke up so ready for water, coffee and eggs I didn't even know what to do with myself.

I love eggs so much-- I even went crazy and had two yolks instead of one. Such a rebel.

So back to last night... We were invited to go out and listen to some jazz (it was awesome-- stand up bass and all) with some new friends. We met said friends at a local retail shop-- Hey, I told you guys we've really been putting ourselves out there.

Team R&R might be social after all.

Anyway, I was really surprised that we both ended up having a great time. Usually one of us is under-stimulated by the company.. or the company is inherently negative- about everything- so as positive people, we find it quite draining to hang out with complainers. People complain a lot, about everything. It's weird.

Anyway, I enjoyed the ladies, R enjoyed the gents.. and we found out that we might not be the only weirdos residing in Stuart. Yeay.

SO now that we found people who like to talk about things that are not sports related or negative-- we're feeling pretty excited about continuing to put ourselves out there to meet more cool peeps.

Ahhh.... shaking off the recluse.

Last week I purchased a few books on amazon that I have been enjoying immensely-- One of the books is called Inner Paths to Outer Space-- It has discusses a fairly unusual-under discussed philosophy-- that directly links religion to science and vise versa-- which is something R and I have a lot of fun discussing together-- even before purchasing this book-- so I am finding it quite interesting.

If you are into the strange, psychedelics, philosophy, religion, human/animal evolution and how we're connected to the universe/God.. it's a pretty cool book.

In other news:

-R and I are putting some serious thought into starting a business. (More on this later)

-Wedding planning is rough, but I had an awesome conversation with my (chef) aunt yesterday that got me fired up about about doing the catering ourselves. (Hey, I love to cook so why not!?) HUGE money saver right there.

-My mom visits soon, I'm quite excited to see that wacky-lady (and for dress shopping). She's in Hawaii right now, lucky be-otch.


-I need to paint something before the week is over.. I am such a slacker Artist.


and....


Tomorrow is FRIDAY. I'm so ready to have a lovely weekend with my love since last weekend was spent watching South Park in bed, and generally being a miserable person.

Oh and, look at this cuteness. Bartlebe laid in that position for a good 7 hours yesterday. 

Laziness at its finest.

You're welcome.

SO. I hope everyone is having a fabulous week.. and.. ya know.. Carpe Diem and stuff.




 Namaste!

R

Monday was for celebrating.

Some days ONE is just not enough! 

;)

  

....the verdict is in, it's indeed true love friends.

 we're special....

I had a lovely afternoon with my bestie yesterday. We decided a little celebration was in order since R and I finally booked a venue for our wedding. Kayla and I drank a little too much wine, cuddled on the hammock and participated in general silliness until R came home-- then we had to pretend like we aren't little twerps-- but who am I kidding.. he knows we're ridiculous.

Oh yeah, we booked a venue for the wedding.. exciting stuff.. more to come on all that later. We're still figuring out the logistics, but we have a venue, an official date and we couldn't be more excited about it.

March 3, 2013. 

<3

In other news, I was pretty disappointed by Mad Men Sunday, I totally thought it would be way more exciting.... but there was definitely something left to be desired. Was that the season finale?

ANYway.. that's all I got!

Namaste!

r

The sea,shore and a hair cut.

Happy Monday!

We had a jam packed weekend filled with running around, botching our normal (sleep) schedule, visiting with family (and friends!) and swimming in the ocean. I'd say it was a pretty damn good weekend.

On Saturday we drove to Orlando (which is about 2.5 hours from our little town) to sell one of my paintings, and visit with my grandparents who summer in Maine. We also enjoyed a lovely nacho-esque dinner with my in-laws and watched the horse race. We all "bet" on our horses with beer, my father-in-law and I picked the winning horse, so I rewarded myself with another glass of vino. ;)

I sold a painting this weekend that I was commissioned to do-- the clients loved it, so I am a happy girl. Painting commissions is a lot of fun, but they are more nerve wreaking since the client has a vision too. Selling something I've already made is a no brainer... making something FOR someone is stressful because there is always a possibility that the client wont be happy with my work. This has actually never happened to me, but it's bound to one day.. you can't make all of the people happy all of the time. 

 In this case they were very happy, so I am very happy too.

The Sea & The Shore, acrylic $360 SOLD 16x40 inches on canvas

On Sunday I decided that I was sick of my hair, so I cut it all off and I am SO glad I did. I don't know why I even bother growing my hair out, I love it short.

I look a little scary in the before picture because I didn't want them to know I was taking a picture of myself at the salon, although no one would have cared anyway..

I feel so free now and all that dyed crap has been cut out. After a few more trims I will be back to my natural hair color for the first time in over 15 years! I am trying to break the evil cycle of coloring my hair, this was a great start to ending that cycle.

After I got my hairs cut we spend the evening with out good friends enjoying the beautiful weather at one of our favorite little spots-- it was nice catching up with friends, we've all been so busy lately there hasn't been much time for that.

This week I am going to try something a little new in the diet/workout department.. so I'll probably share some of that on Wednesday, I am starting a new painting today (maybe) and this is going to be an awesome week!

How was your weekend?

Namaste!
r

Once upon a Cinco..

On May 5th I got to stand next to my best friend as she kissed her freedom goodbye tied the knot and became a married woman! 

It was a really emotional day for me.. In combination of the awesome hormone change I was experiencing (thanks PMS) and ya know.. it being a wedding.. I was so emo! 

I managed to keep my shit in check so I could be a proper, on top of it, MOH and we all ended up having a blast with almost NO hiccups along the way. 

SO here are some scenes from a very-cinco-wedding. 

 

This last picture is of Jason (the groom) and I, and it was my second favorite moment of the entire day.. 

He said to me "I think you were the only one more emotional than I was today!" Such a sweet guy! 

SOMEHOW I managed to get a picture with everyone else and NOT the BRIDE.. 

But that's okay, we've been BFF forever.. and I am sure we'll have plenty more pics!

What kindness has taught me.

I wrote a post yesterday wherein I blathered on about tattoos, regrets, a little this and little that, but what got me writing was the sadness I was feeling because people can be so unkind to each other. Yesterdays sadness was directed towards not only those who made flippant accusations about the writer, but towards the "infamous" writer herself... The whole situation is just sad to me.

Yesterday, for the first time as a blogger someone was less than kind to me, telling me my "Harley sized tattoos" are not "classy," a claim I never made-- and one of the main reasons I "cover up" when getting dressed up, or doing something "important," they would have known that had they actually read what I wrote, instead of just passing judgement on me and trying to anonymously hurt my feelings.

For the record, it didn't hurt my feelings, in fact, I just feel sorry for that person. They must have a lot of pain in their heart to be spreading hateful, off kilter comments on another persons blog anonymously.. but now I have another person to send some kind thoughts to this morning, and for that I am thankful.

I love to spread the love.

I digress.

People can just be down right mean to one another, and you know what, I understand.

I have done some down right rotten things.

I've backed out of two weddings where I was suppose to be Maid of Honor, I was HORRIBLE to my sister when she got pregnant.. and horrible is an understatement, and I have said some horrendous things out of anger to and about my mother, just to name a few. I am not proud of these things, but at the end of the day we can only learn from our experiences, forgive ourselves (and others) and move on.

This past year I have learned that coming from a place of kindness and compassion is a rather lucrative avenue to take, and I have tried to consciously make that a part of my daily life. Some days are better than others, but I'd say lately, most days have been successful, which means I am becoming more conscious, which is a wonderful thing.

I am not going to lie, finding that peaceful place within myself has been and continues to be a difficult task, it is also a rewarding one. In my 25 years, I have harvested so much anger and sadness-- It is quite the task mopping up pools of resentment, jealousy & anger-- they all have deep trenches that seem impossible to access most days-- but, light is most useful when you have a dark place to put it in, so I am up for the challenge.

The point I was trying to make yesterday, was that it shouldn't matter if someone is covered in tattoos, or body piercings, or if they have a turbulent past, or if they post ignorant opinion pieces on a college web-zine or even if they say or think something unthinkably horrible.. we should always be wishing kind things for others, and I have found that when it is the most difficult to give someone the gift of kindness & compassion, is when it is the most rewarding for all parties..

One of my favorite quotes:

"Holding on to anger is like grasping a hot coal with the intent of throwing it at someone else; you are the one who gets burned."

I define anger in its broadest form: jealously, resentment, sadness, judgement, etc... in the end we are just hurting ourselves by not practicing kindness. Kindness has to start on the inside.

You can not be kind to others if you are not kind to yourself.

 "Love others as you love yourself" right?

I'm starting to believe kindness and forgiveness to oneself is the ultimate act of kindness. The way you treat yourself is a reflection of how you treat others,I truly believe that.
 
When someone is unkind, I automatically recognize that they are hurting. Having this realization on a personal level has made it so much easier for me to be compassionate through adversity. Becoming aware of all the hurt people are feeling, makes me want to be even kinder, to myself and others.

{I've been practicing something called Metta Bhavana (Loving Kindness) meditation if you are interested}

I have realized that a lack of kindness comes from a place of hurt within oneself, because I have done it myself. Even though, my participation in unkind acts is happening less often, when I am unkind  to another person, or myself.. (after all, I am only human) it is because I am not dealing with or recognizing whatever the internal issue is.



I use to think I was so aware, on many counts I was just more aware than those I associated with, but I am starting to realize, I was just too afraid to continue doing the work because I knew I still had a long way to go, I am certainly not alone in this, because I think we all can be a little more patient, a little more kind and a little more encouraging to one another.

I am challenging myself, and therefore others, to consciously remember that we are all in this together, none of us make it out alive(on this planet at least), and we each single handily hold the power to not only practice kindness on ourselves and others, we have the capacity to inspire kind thoughts within others.

Namaste,
r

Last night

Last night I had a dinner party.
I made a garden salad, mashed potatoes and a slow-roasted chicken.
{I'll share my recipes around Thanksgiving.}
We wined, dined, ate cake, played guitars and drugged the cats.

Herb, ficus and flower center piece in mason jar. I thought they looked alright, I feel like something is still missing though.

 My mother would be proud, I can set a table. {I am obsessed with grey and yellow these days.}

Cheers!

Oscar got a cake :) The Pumpkin-carrot cake was a bit hit. Even the carrot cake nay-sayer amongst us thought it was delish. I never thought I was much of a baker, but apparently I make some yummy baked goods; everyone loved my pumpkin-muffin cakes too.

Rob and Estefi played us some tunes.

... and I got the cats really high, and giggled while they rolled around in catnip for about 40 mins.
Why is that so funny to me?

Dinner Party 101: Giving cats catnip is an excellent way to entertain guests. ;)

So I'd say it was a successful evening, and now I'm ready for thanksgiving.

Namaste!
r

Going to SLC!

My best friend Courtney got engaged last week (yeay), so Court and her momma surprised me with a ticket out to SLC to help her find THE dress since she is planning a May wedding, and well.. needs to find one stat. 

This is probably the best gift (other than my own engagement ring) that I could have ever received, especially after having such a craptastic week last week.

You see, Courtney is like R but she is a girl and we are not romantically involved.
.....most of the time.. 

{I KID!}

We just get each other and I love her to death.

yep-that's us in 04

I am broke as a joke, so this wouldn't have been a reality unless R decided one day he wanted to do Mars research in Utah couldn't stand one more day without seeing Court-- which could have happened sooner or later, but not in time to go dress shopping with my best bud-- thank god she is getting married in Orlando, because I would just die if I had to relinquish my Maid of Honor duties to this girl-- she has picked me up while I was down, trudged through the swamp with me and helped me laugh through it all. 

So, her mother forgoing her own ticket-- to send me instead is honestly something I don't even know how to say thank you for. I am just so humbled and really frucking exciting to see my crazy ass sweet friend and find her a dress!  

So ladies, since I've only been dress shopping once, for my sister after several margaritas.. 

{ahem}

Any advice on how to make the day go smoothly so my B2B-BFF can find her perfect dress? 

Also, since I'll be there a few days, what should I make her take me to see, I've never been to Utah!

side note: Yes-- it's true, I haven't dress shopped for myself yet. I hate shopping number one, also dress shopping is intimidating because they ask you a lot of questions, and I really think I am going to try and make my own dress.. I have a vision.... 

SLC I will be seeing you in 23 days!

xo, r

80's Dinner Recap

The 80's potluck was a hoot.

A little R & r snapshot. <3

The dinner theme was childhood favorites-- since most of us grew up in the 80's. 

Here's what we had:

Green bean casserole, Apple pie, 5-layer bean dip, Chicken fingers, Guacamole, Hot dogs, S'mores and rob made some kick ass Margaritas from scratch! I have a friend who was of-age in the 80's so he brought beer. (I have so much beer in my house right now its crazy.)

You can see my whole look by clicking here.

 Oh look, RUN DMC stopped by with his homies. 

These are some of the most talented and awesome folks I know.

Emily totally won best dressed.

Once we were done eating and swimming... it was time for S'mores and PJ's 

(yes, we had a grown up sleepover-- No drinking and driving please.)

While the rest of us put on our sweatpants and tshirts, Zach surprised us all with his sweet little Mario jammies. 

Leave it to Z to bring the ridiculous.

.

xo, r

Getting my 80's on.

80's Dinner party tonight. 

Homemade Roberitas, good food and even better friends.

Happy weekend :)

xo. r