Saturday was my friend Cami Walker‘s book launch party for her New York Times bestseller 29 Gifts: How a Month of Giving Can Change Your Life. At the event, her spiritual guide Mbali Creazzo, who gave her the 29 gifts prescription, shared some words of wisdom and her mediation teacher Angel Stork led us in a visualization. Then Cami read us one of her favorite chapters about the gift she gave to her grandmother.
The 29 Gifts Boutique launched at the party, too. The booth was brimming with so many inspiring goodies including this mandala print by Eileen Bradley of Sacred Circle Art. The online store will be up soon, so check the 29gifts site for more info.
Here’s my sweet friend Kate Prentiss who designed many of the darling gifts in the boutique including the handmade ceramic birds and a gorgeous giving journal where you can document your daily gives.
It was so great to see Cami and catch up with good friends. And most of all, it was very uplifting to see the amazing, positive impact of this worldwide giving movement that has now reached 38 countries and nearly 7,000 givers!
This morning my friend Cami Walker, author of the new book 29 Gifts, was interviewed on the Today Show. Her story about how a month of giving changed her life is super inspiring, as is her fabulous book which I finished reading last week.
I participated in her 29-Day Giving Challenge last spring and got a lot out of it. It was fun to find creative ways to give gifts of all kinds (from flowers to feedback) and more importantly to be part of this positive movement. If you haven’t joined yet, why not give it a try? It could be a great challenge/structure for doing NaBloPoMo, which starts in November.
On Sunday, I enjoyed book club with my dear friends. We should probably call it food club, though, since the incredible meals tend to overshadow the book discussion. And with delicious food like this, who could blame us?!
Ahh, but enough talk of the book and on to the food… For appetizers, Christina made a fancy version of Scottish eggs (a quail egg rolled in chicken sausage and breadcrumbs and then fried to a yummy crisp). They were amazing!!
Our main dish was this scrumptiously rich dover sole stuffed with crab and shrimp.
And here’s the ultra-talented chef, Christina! Thank you, Christina for working your culinary magic. I love getting to hang out with the book club ladies! I’m guaranteed good laughs, great food and a grand old time.
Following a brilliant night of creative visions at the Dream Box workshop, I had another fantastic day in D.C. I took my second yoga class at Tranquil Space and then strolled around Dupont Circle enjoying the sunshine and soaking up the local neighborhood character.
In the evening I had the chance to meet up with the lovely Ananda, another creative beauty. We enjoyed a great conversation and yummy dinner at one of Ananada’s favorite local spots, Teaism. I felt so blessed getting to connect with so many of my online blogging friends in-person during this trip!
Then on Sunday I headed to Georgetown for the Creativity in Business Conference to lead my Right-Brain Business Plan breakout session and commune with other creative spirits. What an awesome trip. I look forward to returning to the capital city again for more fun, creative adventures.
What a treat it was to visit Leah in Boston this past weekend. She’s such a sweetie! Not only did I have a blast co-leading our Creative Play workshop with her, I really enjoyed just hanging out, meeting her great hubby and her cute kitties and getting the local’s tour of the city.
On Friday, we walked around Newbury Street. I wanted to check out OAK which had lots of cute handmade goods. We also stopped into the Fluevog store and Leah scored some super awesome turquoise shoes! So cute! I tried on a bunch of pairs, but alas, the boots I wanted didn’t quite work out for me. I will continue coveting :).
We also went to the art store and I asked Leah to give me some expert advice on supplies. I picked up a quill and some ink to play with — fun!
One of my favorite parts of the trip was getting to see Leah’s art up close and personal. If you think her paintings look beautiful on her website, you’d be blown away at how gorgeous the colors, layers and textures are in-person. I spent so much time just poring over all her amazing art! I knew I wanted to buy something, but it was really hard to choose. I ended up getting the cool mixed media piece above called Blackbird Forest. It feels so quiet and serene to me and I love that she used some Asian newsprint for the background. It fits in nicely in my dining room.
Leah surprised me with this darling “yoga Jenn” painting. I absolutely love it! And it’s perfect on the altar in my yoga/meditation room.
After seeing several cuddling cat photos on Leah’s blog throughout the years, I enjoyed finally getting to meet the four meows. Tabbers is certainly a character! Even though I’m allergic to cats, I couldn’t resist petting him especially when he would just come and plop himself on my lap.
Sadie snuggled up with me for a bit on the couch when Leah and I watched Glee.
Here’s Emma hiding away in an empty moving box. Shy Sasha remained elusive during the kitty photo shoot.
And can you believe this gorgeous pond is within walking distance of Leah’s beautiful new house?! A hike through the woods on Sunday was the perfect end to a perfect trip. Thanks Leah for being the hostess with the mostess! I look forward to your visit out here when we bring Creative Play to the Bay Area — woohoo!
I had so much fun in Boston this past weekend visiting with Leah Piken Kolidas. Our Creative Play workshop on Saturday was a blast and it was such a treat to finally meet so many creative souls and online friends in-person.
After the workshop, Mindy, Melba McMullin (who braved a hellish commute from Cape Cod), Leah and I did a road trip up to New Hampshire to catch the Squam art fair. I’ll share more about that exciting adventure later!
Here are the pieces that I put together. We used small cards to encourage quick collaging. Since we gave permission to be messy and silly and to make bad art, I found it so much easier to make some wacky things that I probably normally wouldn’t do. It didn’t need to make sense or look good, but boy did some of my images make me laugh!
The other weekend Brian and I met up with the fabulous Carla White and her husband Colin while they were visiting the West Coast. They’re such a fun and adventurous couple. What a treat to finally meet Carla in person. Our hubbies had lots of interesting things in common, too!
One of the things I love about the blogging world is connecting with so many cool, creative people online, in person and through snail mail.
In a couple of weeks I’ll get to play with Leah Piken Kolidas in Boston and some of my other blogging friends at our Creative Play workshop. I’m really looking forward to finally getting to meet everyone in real life!
Recently, Hope Wallace of Paper Relics sent me some delightful goodies in the mail. I adore the quote that she included and admire how her style permeates all that she does. Both Hope and Carla participated in Susannah Conway’s Unravelling e-course and loved it. I’m excited that I made it in to course that starts later on this month (it sold out in record time!) and know I’ll meet more creative souls in the Unravelling community.
Monica of Creative Beast sent me this darling card which was handmade by her late grandmother. How precious is that?! I love the color and the intricate detail. Monica’s note was so sweet, too.
If you’re looking for more creative connection, join Leah, Connie and me on Connie’s Creative Juicy Life podcast tomorrow at 3pm PT where we’ll be chatting it up about Creative Play!
I can’t believe that I’ve lived in Oakland for more than five years and had yet to visit East Bay Depot for Creative Reuse! Well, last Friday my friend Julie and I rectified that situation. We beamed with excitement as we read on the website, “Every teacher’s first stop and every artist’s second home.” Since Julie’s a teacher and we’re both quite crafty we knew this could be dangerous!
While I’m not one to rummage through garage sales and flea markets (I just get too overwhelmed), I was amazed at the random and fun things I found at the depot. You can buy scrap paper buy the inch, crayons by the pound, buttons by the bag and so much more! I picked up a handful of those bright yellow buttons, a bag of cool retro book pages, an old UC Berekely newspaper from 1974, some upholstery swatches, a few sheets of handmade paper and a blank book shaped like a tag. I’m looking forward to the creative ways I can use these goodies.
If you haven’t been yet, definitely check it out. And of course while you’re in the Temescal area, stop by Bake Sale Betty‘s for the fried chicken. Julie and I waited in a line that went almost down the block, but it was worth it for the delicious fried chicken salad, ginger cookie and lemonade. (We rationalized to ourselves that the fried chicken salad was much healthier than the famous fried chicken sandwich!). Also, my favorite yarn store, Article Pract, is nearby, too, as is my friend Danielle Fox’s beautiful new gallery Slate Art and Design. Lots of creative inspiration along this street!
What fun it’s been wrecking this week! AND seeing all the other creative destroyers participating in the Next Chapter.
Reflecting on this week, I noticed that I stayed more in the realm of “art” making rather than pure destruction. It was still quite a stretch for me to bend pages, to color with random crayons that I pulled out of a bag without looking/color coordinating (gasp!), and to add three-dimensional objects that make the pages all unwieldy. For goodness sake, my book won’t even stay closed now – which I guess is a good thing… haha!
I also had fun asking friends to play with me, starting off with my friend Amy. Amy and I met for the first time in person at lunch today and she was so sweet that she brought me a little present. I opened it up to find that she gifted me with sparkly gemstone stickers (which was perfect for Wreck This Journal, even though she didn’t even know about it!). I invited her to stick some stickers on the book.
Here’s my friend Amy “wrecking” my journal – isn’t she adorable?
You’ll see that there was food still on the table, but I wasn’t ready to document my meal yet. 😉 My excuse? Well it was lunch, not dinner! Haha.
This is one of my favorite pages so far. Once I started putting fruit stickers on, I had the urge to draw the fruit that went with it. The Dole sticker just looked like it could easily turn into a banana! And then I jotted down my random thoughts about the fruit.
Right before going to bed last night, I got inspired to do the office supplies page. So, I rummaged through our stash of post its, staples, paper clips and such. The most satisfying act was making labels with my P-touch. I also forgot how toxic White Out smells. That, mixed with Sharpies might have added to the creative flow!
I decided to sleep with my journal before it got too messy and gross ;).
And today after lunch with Amy, I stopped by my friend Kate‘s house. I handed her the book and asked her to do something destructive to this page. She made me hang out in the bathroom with the water running so I couldn’t hear what mischief she was up to. When she called for me to come out, this rogue seamstress and my Kiss the Paper cohort showed me the cutest sewn awkward heart. I love it!
Given my resistance, it’s obvious that the next place to venture into is the gross land of food, licking pages and perhaps bringing it in the shower with me (I really, really hate it when my books get wet and water logged!). Well, as they say, “What’s in the way is the way!”
Last week I was in New York for Book Expo America, the largest trade show of the publishing industry. For this first-time conference attendee and aspiring author, the show was overwhelming but also quite educational and inspirational. I learned about and met various publishers and got a better sense of what goes on in the professional world of books!
I picked up several advanced copies (one of the show perks!) and I’m excited to dig in. Plus, I got a sneak-peek at some cool titles coming out this fall including: Blogging for Bliss by Tara Frey and the Craft Inc. Business Planner by Meg Mateo Ilasco. Definitely check these out! I was drooling.
I was so busy wandering the halls and soaking it all in that I didn’t get to any of the seminars. Heard there were some good ones on social networking and e-books/Kindle. During my roaming, however, I happened to bump into the brilliant and witty author Karen Salmansohn who I saw speak last year at a Ladies Who Launch event for her awesome book Bounce Back. She was tremendously helpful and offered valuable feedback and insights into some of my projects. I am so grateful! Plus it was fun to see her in action giving love advice for her new book, Prince Harming: Break Bad Relationship Patterns for Good Using the Timeless Secrets of Aristotle. Man, this woman is sharp and hilarious!
My friend Cami Walker’s forthcoming book 29 Gifts: How One Month of Giving Changed my Life was featured at the Perseus Books booth. I loved reading an excerpt from the samplers they had out and loved seeing her book cover (different from these samplers) displayed on a big screen at the booth, too. She has an amazing personal story. I’m thrilled for her, her book and her giving movement.
And not only did I get to hang out with my college roomie, Matea, in Brooklyn before the show, I also got to reunite with my friends Rae, Moon and Lesley from Kimberly Wilson’s March Hip Tranquil Chick Retreat. Lesley was actually at BEA as well representing the Girl Scouts. I was impressed by the programs and accompanying books they have for helping young girls build leadership skills. Things sure have changed since I was a Brownie!
I’m still integrating all that I learned from my research, the contacts I made and the guidance from my book coach. And I’m extremely excited about the next chapter of my own book ideas!
