At the end of long days, I have been finding sweet solace in playing with space on the pages of my little field journal. Putting pen to paper without any set goals in sight helps my mind unwind from hectic days. Such simplicity is gentle, and it makes me feel glad and tranquil.

© kimberly k. taylor-pestell, all rights reserved

Conceptualizing concentrics for my first commissioned piece!

the ripple effect

© kimberly k. taylor-pestell, all rights reserved

Ink tree branches and swirling bark can be a sustaining retreat
to take you away from deep thoughts and sorrow for a little while.

This tree is slowly but surely becoming the piece that will be included
in the Via Crucis art show for the Tribe of LA next month.

sustenance in ink and trees

© kimberly k. taylor-pestell, all rights reserved

... sleep in

... watercolor some inklings

... create a logo and header for the Etsy vintage shop B and I are starting

... photograph items for the {above} shop

... clean, organize, clean, organize {repeat as needed}

... make decorations and Monsterpiece Theatre photo booth props for our
    Boo!-yah Halloween Party next week

... cook meals- no eating out!

... quality time with husband and kitty cat

 iPhone 5, instagram | little muse

© kimberly k. taylor pestell, all rights reserved

It is finally begun: the Shift

Beginning tomorrow, we will obtain the keys to our place.  Next, will follow the fullest of full months involving our belongings being stowed in boxes, boxes being loaded into trucks, trucks hauling all to a more permanent destination (!!!), and boxes being unloaded into home.

Light and water and gas and internet will need their awakening.  And then, happy then, we will slowly, but surely make this space into home.

Some shifts are very very happy ones.

Well friends, the Save-the-Dates are out!  I say it is a milestone, of sorts, in this wedding process experience.  I was pleased with how my designs turned out.  Everything is handwritten or painted except for the scan of our photo booth engagement.  I wanted it to be as handmade as possible!  Quite light in style and plentiful with open space made it no less time consuming by the end, but, I am pleased (and relieved that they are sent!).

Two versions for two celebrations for two separate guest lists:

 &

Someday, I would love to design Save-the-Dates or wedding invitations as part of the paperworks art business I am dreaming up.  That's for later, but for now- I am enjoying designing my own!

Now, onto the wedding invitation!  I have the basic frame drawn, implementing more fleur designs and now I am experimenting with watercolor patterns to give it some light.  After that, there is text to write and a map to paint. 

Slowly, but surely...

© kimberly k taylor, all rights reserved

1//  This would be a dream come true.  If only it were another year when our wedding and honeymoon weren't taking up all the lovely happy space.  Maybe someday, they'll do it all again.

2//  Film viewing of The Hunger Games tonight with book fans Brittany, Phil, Victorya, and Jon.  Curiosity and wondering just how they are going to translate book to screen.

3//  Arranging a meeting with and old friend, Jeremy Langill, who will be officiating our wedding.

4//  Setting up the wedding photography contract with Michael Finster of Blue Kite Photo, and trying not to be too impatient to see the engagement photos he took earlier this month.

5//  Gearing up for a conversation that I sense is going to be sad because of me.

 inkling: for keeping | © kimberly k taylor, all rights reserved 

The overcast skies and brisk morning temperature raised my hopes and I have been carrying around my brand spankin' new happy umbrella all day hoping for a few drops of rain.  I am not a weather-checker, so I am always surprised by rainfall or 100-degree weather.  But, I'll take the overcast wonder even if the rain is remiss.  So lovely, so fresh and envigorating.

Week- into busy weekend- into week- into busy weekend, seems to be the pattern lately.  Last night, Jason and I hauled and hawed and reorganized my garage in the hopes of storing this beautiful king-sized bed between now and July/August when we find our new home.  Probably too soon to be lifting things (given my recent fight with torticollis), but the bed is coming today or Thursday, so no choice!  We made excellent progress and Val was shocked and impressed at our ability to consolidate boxes and separate out her stuff from her daughter, Kirsten's storage, while still leaving (hopefully) ample room for the bed.

Last night, I was quite sore and had a little numb spot between my shoulder blades along my spinal collumn, probably not a good thing, but everything seems back to normal today with only the typical amount of pain and tightness that have been hovering since my trip the spasms desisted. 

And things are movin' movin' movin' and I have to look at that as a good thing. 

inkling:  tut tut | © kimberly k taylor, all rights reserved



Quality time with Scarlet and coaxing her to eat on her own, which she has been doing for the past two- and this morning- days, making us question whether we really should put her down this afternoon

, watching my latest Netflix film, Waitress, which turned out to be a lot deeper than I thought dealing with sexism, abusive relationships, and inner strength

, making paper flowers, teaching B to make paper flowers, and making more paper flowers

, spending time with B and starting By Way of the Stars, starring three actors from our favorite television program growing up, Road to Avonlea

, Mountainside on Sunday

, whipping up some batches of quinoa pasta

, making a call to a family friend to ask if we might have our SoCal "Just Married" party at their home (no word yet)

, and taking Airborne or EmergenC twice a day, to no avail.

a post for 25/29 | Twenty-Nine Days Challenge

lotus lg cell phone:  wish for better

 
  19/29 | Twenty-Nine Days Challenge

Jason introduced me to Jack Conte and Nataly Dawn
of Pomplamoose and they are quite entertaining.

Their rendition of, La Vie en Rose, is one of my favorites songs.

The lyrics, slightly altered, from Jason's love-ly valentine:

inkling: happy notes | © kimberly k taylor, all rights reserved
 

18/29 | Twenty-Nine Days Challenge

  

So, I noticed that I have been including some of, what I like to call, inklings in my posts recently {such as the one above}.  Inklings are simple pen and ink {thus, my little name for them} drawings that I make on any given day.  They often appear on any blank piece of paper, particularly cardstock, and I thought I might share them with you all every now and then.  I hope you find them light and free and a little bit of me.

Thursday night, Phil and I helped Brittany move to Pasadena!  The condo she'll be sharing with the fabulous Lindsay Voorhees, is huge!  The spacious living room comes completely furnished with four couches, coffee table, vintage television set, an old retro barcalounger, and many portraits of the Voorhees family (the condo unit belongs to Lindsay's grandmother).  This opens into the dining room with a large table with a gorgeous chandelier hovering in the sky.  The kitchen has plenty of room and cupboards to be filled with good, healthy foods for B.  Lindsay has the master bedroom, which is HUGE and Brittany has the second bedroom, which is also incredibly roomy.  She has her own bathroom and an impressive amount of closet space and I just can't help feeling so immensely happy for her.  I kept running around with boxes exclaiming, "B!  This is just...just... epic!"

I sang, "Happy new home to you" as I brought in her housewarming gift of vintage owl mugs made in Japan and filled with sparkling Martinelli's for toasting.

Happy new home to you!
Happy clean home to you!
Happy huge-awesome-epic-wonderful-amazing home to Brittany!
Happy new home tooooooo youuu!
 
What an amazing opportunity to live with such a dear friend in a place where the walls don't close in on you and everything is light and open and there aren't any screaming voices in the background.  Hoping for hope...

inkling: a day for flying  |  © kimberly k taylor, all rights reserved  

I am so incredibly thankful that

...you were born twenty-seven years ago

...our lives intersected {and how beautifully so}

...you are such a loving, thoughtful, and true man of character

...you chose me back and I get to spend the rest of my life with you

Happy Birthday, Love.

inkling: happy balloons  |  © kimberly k taylor, all rights reserved

rush hour

08/29 Twenty-Nine Days Challenge

I came in to work at 8 o'clock and within thirty minutes, I was rushing to my car with my favorite sweater drenched in someone else's boiling coffee and a tingly sunburned feeling all over my chest and part of my left shoulder.

It was bound to happen at some point.  The hallway to the lunch room and the door to the supply room are side by side and there is a blind spot during which, for about half a second, you really cannot see anyone coming around the corner.  Unfortunately for me and my sweater, I was the sad recipient of a boiling cup of coffee slow mo-ing out of a steaming mug and all over me.  The poor lady apologized profusely and tried to help me clean myself up, found some kind of ointment that might help, and offered me her own sweater to wear.  I know that accidents happen and I wasn't the least bit mad.  Really, it was more of a shock than anything else.  And silly me was actually more concerned for the health of my sweater than for my probable burn.

Thankfully, my boss ordered me to go straight to the dry cleaners (I've never been to the dry cleaners before) and then straight home to get some fresh clothes.  So, my real morning did not start until about 9:50am, ten minutes before presenting some updates and samples at a meeting. 

This morning has felt like one big rush.  Rush to get ready, rush to work, rush to the dry cleaners before the stains set, rush to retrieve fresh clothes at home, rush back to work, rush to a meeting.  But, in some ways, the little incident provided a break -- a break in thought and routine and even experience.  And for the first time in my life, I can say, "I'll be home right after I pick up the dry cleaning," just like they do in films and old television shows, which is something new and new things can be good for interrupting patterns every now and then.  So, there is a plus side to everything, if you look hard enough for it. 

The most amusing part was later, when I noticed that my bra most definitely smelled like very strong coffee.

This afternoon, I received a phone call: "Hey, will you be my Valentine?"

Three years ago, Jason was my first romantic Valentine. And he has become quite permanently so. He happens to be quite something and I always wonder why he picked me, but try not to question it too much.

Happy Valentine's Day, my dears (for it is still Valentine's Day for a few more minutes).

From my beginning, the holiday centered on family love.  It was never about pink & red or hearts & flowers or lovey-dovey or kissy-kissy.  It involved dinner and valentines (sometimes handmade, sometimes purchased from the carefully poured-over Current catalog) and, almost always, See's Candy.

During the dark years when I was not well, it was still about family, but it had that overhanging rejection thrown in (for that is the way of Depression).  I must say, looking back, it was never really about romantic love at all.  It was a day that served as a reminder of how precious loved ones are and what treasures we get to hold.

I am thankful for my Valentines: Loves who teach me love.  Thank you for actualizing love and teaching me how to sacrifice and receive it even when life is difficult and cold.  For love makes it less cold and even takes life into the realm of beautiful.  Thank you, my Valentines.

tonight, it's about the rain

it is raining outside. there's a consistent rhythm in a one-and-two-and-three-and pattern. it reminds me of music and clocks and safety. it's the sort of evening that would be perfect for finding old, lost love letters taped beneath an old floorboard. or the sort of evening you make hot cocoa, stir it with a silver spoon, and stay up late until your eyelids get heavy and then you fall asleep listening to denison witmer melodies.

i feel comfortable falling asleep to the sound of rain.

Saturday [A.]

I've been going, going, going. I'm very tired today. A full morning-afternoon (and quite hectic) in Pasadena. I registered four new students amidst the craziness, so yay! If we register 250 students by June, Jenna and I get a $500.00 bonus, so I'm all about the registrations. I think we're about half way there.

I feel a bit guilty because my housemate, Wendy, graduated today and there's a BBQ going on in the back yard. I made a brief appearance, but am working on photography stuff in my room. I have so much to do before my photo shoot at 4:00 pm.

You'd think I was hiding out in my room because a certain someone is here attending the BBQ. However, for the first time, I actually don't feel uneasy about his nearby presence. And I'm not mad or angry. I really think... I've finally forgiven him.

So, I've been drawing lately:

Love or Dread

This is me. I am holding a Valentine balloon. And I am very pleased.

Several years ago, I took up drawing doodles of myself as Me in Stick Figure Form a few years ago. During my years of depression, it helped me cope with things by expressing emotions with simplicity. Only recently has this Me in Stick Figure Form exhibited happy emotions. I have come a long way in the last year and a half and so has the little girl in the striped dress.

The past few days, comments regarding Valentine's Day have been abundant. Such a wide variety of opinions. Some people seem to be feeling conflicted because while they used to hate all the hearts and flowers when they were single, they now have a significant other with whom to enjoy it and looking forward to the 14th. Others think it's a stupid holiday because, "Why should we have a holiday to express love when we should be doing that all year long?" Some girls I know have a Valentine's Day "Girls Night" where they embrace their singleness, get in their pajamas, and watch romantic chick-flicks or re-runs of Gilmore Girls. Either that or they dress up all fancy-like and go out to dinner. Some have a sleepover party and pig out on junk food. Slightly older couples seem to have gotten so used to the holiday that they are pretty nonchalant about the whole thing and when asked their plans, respond with, "Oh, I don't know. Probably dinner or something. I haven't thought about it." Like I said, wide variety.

Ever since I can remember, my family has celebrated Valentine's Day all together. My dad would pick out the perfect Valentine for each of us girls and and my mom would get us each something special from See's Candies. We'd all go out to dinner with my Auntie Eileen, who would take ordinary Valentine's from Target or K-Mart and turn them into awesome pop-up cards with glitter. Come to think of it, Valentine's Day wasn't about couples at all for us. It was about celebrating the love we have for and receive from those closest to us. I love Valentine's Day.

I must admit that when I was going through my horrible teen years and that boy I liked never liked me back, Valentine's Day was a bit of a sting, but because we had the family love fest going on, it wasn't that bad... at least, that's how I feel now. I'm sure it was so much more melodramatic as a teen. I'll have to refer to some old diary entries (::shudder::) to know for sure. ;D

Regardless of what your feelings are about Valentine's Day, I wish you a happy 14th of February 2008.

the rose

ever before: a symbolic representation of a heart. and the "girl with the rose" could be found on class notes, letters, paintings, church bulletins, and even an old train door.

the expression of her was so necessary. and the significance of the rose was never told to anyone. its simplicity of four strokes stood on its own (in more ways than one).

and the girl ever held this four-stroked rose (or sometimes, looked upon it longingly) hoping with all she was that someone would notice it. and it may be seen as a most beautiful thing and, with fullness and depth, be befriended and eventually loved thoroughly and gently and passionately.

at other, more painful times, the girl would stretch out her arm, extending the rose as far as she might. but there was never anyone there. there was only dimly lit rooms without windows and doors that led to other dimly lit rooms without views and without hope. any belief that she had, faded over the twelve months upon twelve months upon twelve months and on.

and at a time most unexpected, someone saw her rose and found it worthy and beautiful. and it was more than she could understand and the rose blossomed and the scent was rich and wild and full.

now the girl no longer holds her rose, outstretched and pained. for now a boy holds the rose and cares for it before himself. and the rose, so lonely and withering, is alive and well and free and full.