Currently

Planning a menu for my Summer Solstice Party, so many things I want to make!
Rehearsing a presentation that I will give to one of the VP Staff Meetings at my company, nervous!
Stretching for one hour each day with P90X StretchX.
Getting ready for a California-long road trip. Driving 12 hours north for Fourth of July family festivities
Enjoying fig-infused balsamic vinegar
Looking forward to my trip to Hawaii to see Garrett and Jenny in September!

Summer Projects

I love June. New projects, New energy. Beach Days. Long summer evenings with iced tea and great summer reading. It still feels like school just let out and I have two months to be completely ecstatic about. 

One of my favorite authors, Sarah Ban Breathnach describes June the best in Romancing the Ordinary, "...Leave the back door open, turn the sprinkler on, and dare to be bare. Revel in the unfinished, the improvised, the gloriously imperfect. Dunk strawberries and romance your flaws. Linger in the twilight of a summer's day, dance with the fireflies, wink at the full moon. Believe in Midsummer magic...Let each day's brushstrokes reveal the incomparable beauty of your stilled life. Moments you once called ordinary now seem infused with grace."

Here are my top three summer projects and the inspiration that goes along with each one:

1. Summer Solstice Party--I'm throwing a fun backyard dinner party with some of my best girlfriends at my new place in Santa Monica. This is the first time that I've ever thrown a party to celebrate the start of summer, but I'm think this is a yearly tradition that I just might have to keep! 

Here is the invitation that I made

 
                       My inspiration for the table settings and menu:

 Love the unique ingredients in the water and lemonade!

 Love these color combinations and her big floppy beach hat! I think it is a must for the summer.

 What a fun way to serve veggies!

 I'm borrowing my sister's wedding party lanterns and some strands of white lights from my Mom. My Mom is also shipping me a gorgeous blue and yellow tablecloth that I had bought from the Amalfi Coast of Italy when I traveled there in 2005. It will be perfect for a backyard party with lots of citrusy, lemon-inspired dishes on the menu!

 An outdoor s'more buffet! I love it!

 pink and yellow are just so pretty together! Now I want to start searching for a cute yellow sundress! I do think yellow is my color of inspiration for this month.

2.  New Summer WorkOut Routine! I came across this new exercise routine called the "100" Workout, and have started completing two rounds of this each day! It has been the ultimate fitness challenge, but I feel so great afterwards once I make it through my last wobbly set of squats at the end. It has definitely made me drink more water and be much more aware of my hydration levels in order to make it through the workout. I will be sharing my tips and strategies each week, since that is always the part I enjoy doing the most at work to.

3. Finishing my Art Studio Area
The multiple moves in the last year have really made it difficult for me to settle in and put down roots in a place. This weekend I decided to start going through boxes of my art supplies and paper materials so that I can finally set up a Art Studio Corner. This will entail me buying a new corner desk and setting up a wide bookcase that can house some bins of art supplies as well. I cannot wait to get started on this project! I'm planning on looking for a used desk and bookcase that I can repurpose and repaint easily. My sister's desk project inspired me!

Coming Back

It has been over four months since I last wrote on my blog and the guilt has been following me around every single month. It was always on the never-ending to-do list to get back to posting, but it never was one of my top priorities this last spring. Now, priorities in my life have shifted, and have forced me to take a look at what I really enjoy spending time doing outside of the office.

I feel lucky to have a job that I'm absolutely passionate about, but the downside to that is spending far too much time at work and enough time in other areas of life that used to matter more. Writing creatively is one of those. Looking back over my posts from five years ago, I really miss my daily musings and documenting of Life. A very close friend told me something wonderful and very true, "Writing makes you exact." I haven't sufficiently captured a lot of special moments in the past year or two on here, and so it is time for me to return so that I can be exact in creating a wonderful collection of stories and musings about year that I know my Future Self will really enjoy reflecting back on.

So it is time to for me to spend a little more time writing here in my little corner of the web. I hope you will join me, even if my writing feels a little rusty and out of practice right now. I enjoy sharing the process with all of you.