This year I vowed to have more fun. I didn’t set out to “work less”, “mediate more” or any of the other mantras I probably should have followed, instead, I just wanted to enjoy my life more. I have a great quote by Colette (I think) that says “What a wonderful life I’ve had, if I only I’d realized it sooner.” I didn’t want to wait much longer to do my realizing. A great part of my life, like 95% of it, has been focused on “have tos.” This year I made it my goal to do more “want tos” no matter how frivolous they seemed, while still trying to accomplish my goals.
Last week my schedule was just jam packed, translation, full to the brim with yucky “have tos.” When a client called me to say she was running late I decided to take the opportunity to pop into a store next to our meeting spot that looked quite charming from the outside, Zinnia. ( www.Zinnia.Biz ) Zinnia is a craft kind of store in South Pasadena, CA, in an area known for one off little shops with lots of character. I’ll be honest with you, I was killing time and hardly had any expectations of my little pit stop. Boy was I shocked. Not only was Zinnia darling, it had tons of amazing magazines and books that couldn’t have been more inspiring. I picked up a new magazine called Artful Blogging by Somerset Studio ( www.Somersetstudio.com ) and was blown away. This magazine is so nice it might as well be a coffee table book; it talks about all of the fabulous ways to embellish and have fun with a blog. This was right up my alley.
Upon checkout I noticed that Zinnia gave classes quite frequently and decided to sign up for one called “Fun Charmettes wth Resin” taught by Tammie Moore, a class that I attended this past Saturday. With the boys firmly situated with their taekwondo classes, hair cuts and play dates, I guiltily jetted off to my first art class in ages. I was almost giddy with pleasure. We made all kinds of little charms and medallions in resin and for the first time I actually learned how to use this stinky product. Three hours later I not only felt like a new person but was totally inspired and refreshed (yes, this could be attributed to some of those resin fumes). One of my favorite trinkets (no news yet on how I will use it) was a picture of a funny little avian creature pressed into a little silver disk, covered in resin with a caption in a fabulous typewriter font that read: Bird in Love. I have no idea whatsoever why I am so enamored of this silly little deal other than it is just very sweet. It reminds me of a hot, cheerful southern California day spent in search of fun. Maybe this blog can be your reminder to do something purely for yourself, no strings attached, expectations left at the door. Maybe you can find that inner glee that I seemed to have unknowingly left by the wayside awhile ago. Cheers to more playdates, spontaneous art classes and colorful blogs (just as soon as I can finish the magazine and figure out how to upload the images!)
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