A Tiny Break from Reality...

Yesterday morning, I packed up the car, kissed the pets goodbye, and headed out to see my oldest sister a few hours away. We had been talking about getting together for an "art day" for a long time, and finally we just picked a date and stuck with it.

What an incredible time I had, away from my (temporary) problems and a break from the reality that is my daily life. Now, in no way am I complaining about this reality; there are so many things that are absolutely and wonderfully perfect in my life~I'm so grateful for them all! But, like anyone else I too have those little bumps in the road; right now being a bit of a low spot, I was extremely happy to leave my problems behind and head out on a cool and rainy morning with no bigger decision to make for the day than the flavor of coffee to choose. I was thankful it was rainy and a little chilly...so much nicer to drive feeling slightly cool, enjoying a warm cup of decaf than sweating hot, sitting in the blazing sun while one arm sunburns and the other is left perpetually as white as baking flour.

I puttered along, thinking of all sorts of career and relational issues, and then, halfway into my drive thought "This is a mini-VACATION, try to get into the mindset!" so I popped in my Shakira CD and blasted all of the problems and "the stupid people" right out of my little blonde head. It was refreshing. And very loud. Very, very loud.

My sister Celeste spoiled me with a delicious lunch, homemade biscotti (which I've been craving for the past 10 days but have been too hot to make), and the adorable gifts above, all tucked into a pretty pink bag. I was nearly in tears with gratitude. It feels so good to be taken care of, doesn't it? After lunch we spent some time re-arranging her home studio where she works as the editor for a magazine and spends some of her free time creating altered art. We made good progress I think. Sometimes all it takes is moving some things around to create some "blank" spaces which makes a room feel completely different and energized. We spent most of today scouring lawnsales for treasures (I bought a beautiful cream colored vintage "Jackie" dress and a funky black vintage skirt...complete with a rhinestone button), and then played with our altered art projects at a cool scrapbooking store where they let us use all sorts of their supplies for FREE! It was so much fun!

And, aren't THESE little suitcases adorable? My sister Aimee gave me these fun little striped cases which have the most beautiful and bright poppies on the fronts~I LOVE vibrant color! These bright stripes are my new favorite. She also gave me a funky new sushi set, as my darling husband and I are becoming quite the sushi connoisseurs. We like to make our own and now we have the tiny sage green platters with even tinier square "sauce dishes" and pretty new chopsticks to make us feel like we really know what we are doing!