This Weekend

I'm heading to Seattle today to see my friends and that crazy new ferris wheel and to eat cupcakes, etc., etc... but more importantly I get to see Lemolo tonight!!

Bonus: This will be my first time at The Columbia City Theater. It's about time.

Check Out My Bike Gang

I went on this awesome bike ride this week with some of the coolest people I know and my friend Ralph made this sweet video.

This Week

Life just keeps getting busier, but it's nice to have so much to look forward to!

 This week will include:

quilting

band practice

community bike ride

Lemolo CD Release show in Seattle

Sand & Sawdust Festival in Ocean Shores

It's going to be a good one.

Juicy

On Monday night, I watched the documentary Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead. Basically it's about this Australian dude who comes to the US to cruise around the country for a month or two and drink juice which he makes out of the back of his car. Seems totally legit to me.

Obviously, he was on a mission to convert people to his liquid diet and he did his job pretty well. He convinced a few people throughout the movie to actually join him on this fast. He also convinced me. 

Mind you, it's not hard to convince me into trying new things that involve health crazes. I've done a raw food cleanse before. I was vegetarian for a time. Vegan for a few days. I once gave up anything made from corn for Lent (after watching the doc King Corn)... that was very difficult.

 So, obviously I had to try this juice fast. The next day, I went and bought a boat load of green stuff and the fast began on Wednesday.

Before you start to get inspired, let me tell you it's Friday and I've already failed.

Less than 24 hours in, I got the worst WORST headache ever. And it didn't go away for another 24 hours. Then I went to Starbucks.

I did a little research and it's suggested that you actually cut out a bunch of stuff like caffeine and meat 5 to 7 days before you start the juice fast. How typical that I read the directions after I screw something up.

Anyway, I'm just juicing once a day now until I can get my act together and get myself off the caffeine.

Juice Recipe:

2 Cups Kale

2 Cups Spinach

4 Stalks of Celery

1/2 Cucumber

2 Green Apples

1 inch of root ginger

Dream Home

These days, when I'm not busy working, I like to torture myself by looking at homes for sale online and pinning away... dreaming of some life where I live in a super cool house.

Here's what I know for sure...

It will have a yellow door.

Source: cinoh.tumblr.com via Britta on Pinterest

Open shelving.

Source: heltenkelthosmig.blogspot.se via Britta on Pinterest

Some slick tiles.

Source: bferry.wordpress.com via Britta on Pinterest

Indoor/Outdoor spaces.

Source: hiswii.soup.io via Britta on Pinterest

A porch big enough for bowling, of course.

Source: camillestyles.com via Britta on Pinterest

And a cozy bed.

Source: designsponge.com via Britta on Pinterest

Is this really so much to ask? Time to start saving my pennies!

First First Thursday

Last week, the Hoquiam Business Association started a new event we're calling "First Thursdays!" Similar to the First Thursdays (or Fridays or Saturdays) in many other cities, businesses stayed open late and hosted local talent and served up some great deals.

After all of the hard work, it was so great to see this event come together. My shop was packed and everyone seemed to be having a good time... I'm guessing the wine helped.

Oh, and we had a photobooth.

Make Something

Truth: I've watched/listened to this video three times tonight.

I find this talk by Adam Savage at the Maker Fair to be so very inspirational - and I don't even know what he's talking about half the time. I mean, all of the techy/sci-fi references. I do not make these types of things. (I think the best thing I made as a kid was a replica of Garth's car from Wayne's World out of a cardboard box, complete with a rooftop licorice dispenser.)

However, it seems like anybody who makes anything can have a very similar experience, whether it's hats, space ships, quilts or businesses... yes, I've always thought of myself as a "business artist" and this talk confirms my feelings about this.

Every. Single. Thing. Adam talks about here is so relatable to me right now with regards to my business. For instance, I feel like the fact that I own a business and it is what it is has almost come from somewhere beyond myself. It was just something that I had to do. I don't really remember making a conscious decision to own a business, I've known from a very young age that this is what I was meant to do and I never really questioned it.

For instance, when I was in second grade I started planning events at my house where I would invite my friends over to have a snack and work on a craft project together. Apparently the Girl Scouts weren't cutting it for me. Anyway, now I do that for real and get paid for it. Boom.

I also love that he talks about creating things based on a desire. The reason I'm drawn to entreprenuership is because it gives me the opportunity to create the things I wish existed. My desires keep me going when things get tough. I've never been one to sit around and wait for somebody to do something about [instert whining here]. If something isn't meeting my expectations, I start seeking out a way to fix the problem. Some of these things I desire may never even happen, but at least I'll know I spent my time working toward something instead of wasting time complaining.

And I'm so happy he brought up the point about knowing that 70% of the way through a project he starts to become unsure of the whole thing but that through awareness of this fact about himself, he can power through. I go through the exact same thing with nearly everything in life, but especially when I'm working on huge projects. I always hit a point where I'm like "WTF am I doing?" and I want to just walk away from it and get a "normal" job. Then I have a moment where I remember that I've felt exactly this way before and that I should stick it out for at least another week and see how I feel then. Turns out, I usually get my mojo back.

This is especially inspirational to me right now because I was starting to forget how or why I ended up where I am. Luckily, despite all of the stress of my business, I had a really great and refreshing week and this talk really capped it off. I'm hoping that my desire to make things in my community will inspire others to do the same.