Hello Friends,
You know who I am REALLY in love with right now??
Frida.......Frida Kahlo
I seem to be seeing her everywhere and here is a little peek at some of my most exciting finds:
For those that don't know Frida Kahlo was a famous Mexican painter that lived from 1907 to 1954.
In no way am I am claiming to be a Frida expert, but here are some things that I have discovered about this woman that makes her a top bad ass in my book.
**She spent most of her life bed ridden. At the age of 6 she contracted Polio and then later in her early 20's was in a terrible bus accident that left her body mangled even further. She suffered a broken pelvis, spinal column, collar bone and had a hand rail go through her back and out her uterus.......and she lived.......reason #1 why this woman is amazing.
** She took pain...physical, emotional and mental and turned it into art. All of her suffering, grief, bad choices and struggles were put onto her canvas. Say what you will about her style of art, her political views, her questionable morals and behaviors....the woman never apologized......instead she created........reason #2
** She used herself as her main subject. In fact, most of her works were self-portraits. She painted the ugly, the dark sides, the sides that we as humans try and hide. The sides we point out in others but refuse to acknowledge as owning ourselves. This kind of transparency and authenticity blows my mind! The amount of courage it takes to even go to those places is huge. Not only did she go there.....she illustrated what she found. Reason #3.
And finally~ ANY woman who can rock a unibrow and not give a shit.......well...my hat is off to you sister!!
Frida is credited with saying “I paint myself because I am so often alone and because I am the subject I know best.” She had a mirror put over her bed so she could study herself for her work. She knew she was born to paint and she was willing to work with the most constant subject she had....herself.....scars and all...
Now, I don't know about you all but if I was bed ridden, I would NOT choose myself as my primary subject! I would go out of my way to find pretty much anything else to focus on....I would become a master at painting those bowls of fruit you see or something. I would crochet till my fingers fell off......I would spend countless hours finally teaching myself to whistle...hell.....anything but stare at my own self...my own soul...... all day..... every day and then translate it through paint!
So as I was thinking about that fact I asked myself....well.....why?? Is it because I would be scared that people would find it arrogant? Is it because I am scared of what I would see? Is it because I don't think that it would be worth painting? Is there not enough substance within a human being....themselves alone..... to produce a life's work of art?
And guess what answers I came up with to those questions??
Not a damn one!
HA!
There goes my idea on spending the rest of my life making a career out of self reflection, or being a sage or a yogi or writing some best seller about the monumental findings that one can encounter when spending huge amounts of time in solitude. Guess I will just keep making soap and stuff.
So what is the point of all this you ask?? Why should we love Frida? Why should we care about this tortured mess of a woman who painted things you would take down when your Grandma comes to visit....(don't worry....she's already seen them I assure you!)
We should care because she created in spite of what she would find when she started. Let that sink in for a second.
She didn't draw flowers or smiley faces on her famous broken column piece. She painted nails and tears. She didn't sugar coat shit to make it palatable or change it for the masses so it might sell better or be more appealing. She truly embodies the saying "It is what it is".........love it or hate......she painted her truth.
She was a realist. The universe knows that if anyone can appreciate one of those it is a crazy scattered brain creating maniac like me.
Instead of searching Pinterest all morning and then finding myself $200.00+ deep at the old craft warehouse shaking my head saying "Really???? AGAIN Danielle??.....why don't I pull a Frida.
Stay in my stretchy pants....ask myself some questions about what is inside and then just let whatever creation that happens happen....with the stuff I already have.......
Frida lived in the middle....and it shows in her work. She had momentous life events. Like all of us. But the meat and potatoes of her work....the amazing stuff happened in the middle.....on a regular day.....doing what she had to do...which in her case was usually be in bed.....stuck.....in the middle of life.
Frida Kahlo didn't apologize for feeling. She didn't say "Yeah.....I'm a hot mess.....sorry about that". Instead, she accepted it and ran with it.
Now....I'm not saying we should all go on some crazy artistic tangent..throw caution and values to the wind....hitch-hike or not brush our teeth...( and I WOULD have a unibrow if I didn't pluck my eyebrows and I can't go there Frida..I gotta sit that one out girl).
What I am saying is this....... that middles give us a great chance to settle in and take a look. See what kind of magic we already have and what we can do with it if we are brave enough.
Let's start today.......For the love of Frida......For the love of being in the middle.
One Love,
Danielle
Hello Friends,
You know what I LOVE about late late Spring, Summer and Fall (well until the first frost)...????
HANGING BASKETS!!
Every single year, since I can remember it has been one of the simple joys that I look forward to. When I was a little kid it would be going to pick out one with my Mom. Like any important decision, it was made carefully. What colors should it have? What types of flowers? Will we put it in the shade or the sun? The final deciding factor was, of course.....unfortunately but inevitably......
price $$$
Which leads me to my next point.
You know what I HATE about late late Spring, Summer and Fall (well until the first frost)...????
HOW MUCH HANGING BASKETS COST!!
Holy smokes guys......have you checked these things out lately?
Last mothers day my present from my adorable was a day of nursery hopping (with a cheeseburger stop in the middle of course!). Per the usual course of events I would get super excited at the entrance of every place......inhaling all that beautiful fragrance......letting my gaze wander.......trying to eye the best looking basket.
AHA.....found it!
Then I start running over to steal.....uhhh...I mean share a look with that other lady who was going to buy it right out from under me....uhhhh......I mean was also admiring it.
All politely....done very politely...with garden tea etiquette I assure you!
So there we are....me and this gorgeous, full, perfect basket that is just softly saying..."pick me....I'll look like this all summer.....the neighbors will all point and gawk at my beauty"......YES!!! This is the ONE!
Wait.....Whaaaaat????
$75.00???...........damn.......looks like I need to go shop in the ugly....discounted..."don't know why this one didn't turn out"....... section of the greenhouse.
Over the years I have experimented with making my own baskets so I can avoid this dream crushing event year after year. Turns out that isn't exactly cost effective either. I would go to the nursery and load up a flat of petunias and bacopa and million bells....etc...... Even if I had saved my previous years container I could never seem to get out of there under $50.00. Typically that would usually only yield 2 "obviously this lady was trying to save money" hanging baskets. Resourceful gardener fail!
Whatever is a flower child to do!?!
So this year I decided that was it......I try my best to make almost everything else that I think is insanely overpriced but I just can't seem to live without.....(laundry soap is an example....haven't bought any in 3 years....make my own......smell like lavender and angel kisses........high-fives accepted!)
I am going to grow my own baskets. From seed! No cheating! All the way. Master gardener style.
Here goes nothing.......
 |
| 100+Petunias |
The first challenge was finding seeds. Not because they are hard to find...there are just SOOOO many! (and I love them all!!)I will spare you the hours of research and just point you here :
Swallow Tail Garden Seeds
Great selection at decent prices and when my seeds arrived they were perfectly packaged and in great condition!
I managed to acquire quite a few containers over the last couple years and finally was able to put them to use. While rummaging through my shed I also found a couple unused cell packs (those containers that look like Popsicle trays!)
Score!!! I have had this idea before apparently!
Now comes the fun part.....Planting!!! In a radical move I decide to do something different and do a little research on starting Petunias from seed BEFORE I through all these seeds in the dirt.....crazy.....I know......
Turns out our hanging basket staple is a little demanding when first coaxed to grow.
A great concise resource I came across for growing these lovelies can be found Here!
I have a little talk with my seeds and tell them that I'm not scared...they can be demanding....
"I need water....I need light......this soil PH is ALL wrong".......
I tell them I love them anyway and we are going to do this whole germination thing together.....
Our friend the petunia seed needs light for germination....you bury these little ladies and it's lights out....no grow.....just hanging out with lots of dirt and no action....the problem is they are the tiniest seeds I have ever seen!! So tiny in fact almost all of mine came pelleted. (this is a term used when they coat the seed so it can be handled easier)
Enter tweezers......life saving tool in this adventure so far...
I proceed to spend the afternoon carefully plucking seeds and placing them into their own little cozy dirt home. The trick with this seems to be that you need them to touch enough of the dirt to gain nutrients but not so much that they are in the shadows. Trickier then it sounds.
I heard a quote somewhere once that said something about every blade of grass has a breath of wind or a fairy or some magical something that whispers "grow" to it......I am determined to become the Petunia whisperer. I pick a seed...gently place it in the soil and whisper "grow"......I feel insanely happy when doing this....and decide that either A. I REALLY need to get out of the house or B. planting things somehow fills my soul and gives me hope.
When done I sit back and look at them all....now comes the hardest part.....waiting......and waiting and waiting.....the part I am least great at!
The packets said that average germination occurs between 7 and 12 days....that's a mighty long time to stare at dirt.
I spend the next several days moving the trays all over the house. "Maybe they would do better with the light from this window?", I think.....
No...No....THE Bathroom!! YES!!! It's light and WARM since it is the smallest room in the house! Brilliant!
No....no....the dog will step on them when she goes to drink out of the toilet....(come on.....I know I'm not the only one who has a dog that has this little habit!)
See this is where my problem comes in....I catch myself "loving" them to much! I can't just let them be and when you live in 600 sq ft you run out of places to make your Petunia babies comfy......
Then......about day 6.........something happens!!!!
But wait......there's more!!
I think it was because I whispered to them! HA!
And now I find myself officially in a "middle" again. The excitement of planting and waiting for them to sprout is complete.....but we are not at the big, full, healthy, throw them in a basket and watch everyone swoon part yet either. Ahhhhhhhhh........middles....
Stay tuned!! More to come!
PS.....Leave a comment on your favorite part of growing things and you will automatically be entered into my first free GIVEAWAY! A winner will be chosen at random March 8 2015 and will receive a complete little kit to start a lovely Petunia of their very own!!
Greetings!
I could NOT sleep last night! I know you all can relate.....and if you can't I am jealous! Some of you may know that I have recently left my 14 year career in the financial industry to pursue.....well......things. It was a tough decision, and while the outcome is still unknown I have been able to devote time to some of those things that only received half my attention over the last decade or so.
In any case, last night the thought "you should start a blog!!!" kept me up forever. So in the spirit of trying to follow that little voice (or in my case that crazy woman who shows up at bedtime like a drunken roommate who wants to tell you all about her wild adventures...past, current and future, in the most obnoxious voice possible)here it is......my new blog.
First on the list of things to do was SoapSociety. I recently took the plunge and went from a sole proprietor to an LLC.....feeling kind of official!
(P.S. if you haven't been to my Etsy store in awhile head over and check it out.....lots of new stuff going on!)Use the link below!
SoapSociety
Woohoo!
What I have learned so far from this process is that my delusion of ever coming to a place in business that requires less paperwork is just that....a delusion. Good thing I make a to-do list every morning and have for years so I felt pretty good about checking all those boxes.
Next was to get back in touch with my body. Years of corporate and office settings left me disconnected with my physical self. I have had episodes of regular Yoga, hiking, walking...etc....but alas...they always fell back on the "to-do" side of the list instead of the done.
I have been making a conscious effort to get outside and move my body everyday. Armed with the "you are on a sabbatical of sorts....you have no excuses" mantra and I must say the results have been amazing....not two piece swimsuit amazing...but more like.....I dig this whole being outside thing amazing......
I will spare you the incessant ramblings of all the other things that made it on the even longer "to-do" list but I would like to invite you all, old friends and new to follow me along in this life that always seems to lead to a "middle"........(more on that whole thing later!)
Stop by often and feel free to leave comments!
One love,
Danielle
That hand on my shoulder belongs to a guy you probably will hear about.....my famous...or infamous father...but since he is a little shy we will have to see if he gives me consent to post his full physique.....HA!
