big blue chair

Where the Gardens Are Works of Art
Carneros, Napa, Calif.
Twilight on a Saturday
The big blue chair just east of the Carneros Junction marks the entrance to this eclectic venue that’s home to tasting rooms, a gourmet café, home and garden stores, galleries, and nine acres of garden installations collected from a select group of world-renowned landscape designers.

gonna wash that gray right outta my hair

core strength

I decided this was the year to tackle things I’m not inherently good with or excel in. To be able to see the weakness and address it directly, rather than ignoring what is right in front of me. What do I suck at?
Namely, exercise.
Sure. I can run, skip, dance and somersault with the best of them. But my real strength exists in my mind.

Working on core strength last night (and seeing how dismal my core strength is) I wanted to give up but my workout partner, Jamie, made me keep going.
It was really easy for me to see how people give up on things they care very much about but feel inadequate to accomplish. It’s good to tackle things you aren’t good at, to remind you about the weaknesses we… all have…

Where ever you are. In your struggle. I understand. You have an understanding friend in me.

I’m happy, to be here, right now

If you look, not in the right places, but with the right eyes, you can find the rainbows. Everywhere you look.
The technical term for it is Pollyanna Action Potential.

The beautiful boneflowers ladies: Lux, Erika, Jamie and Marie

Born out of a love for all things rusty and broken, an unusual taste in clothing and a passion for creating, this little shop got its start in July of 2009 and has been evolving ever since. Carefully curated by Jenna Schmidt, a purveyor of the weird and the wonderful. For the perfect gift, that special dress, that amazing necklace, Boneflowers has just what you were looking for!

Flying Hands Mural: Art is the Universal Language

When you work with kids, to give them a voice in an environment that is particularly harsh, crushing and potentially foreshadowing. It is important in my opinion to foster flying when possible. To rise above the hurdles and let them not hinder dreams and goals.

Our resident art teacher, Jenni Ward, brought down a large oiled drop cloth and paints. Teachers and Students alike decorated it with hand prints. Then the HOPE Art team doodled all kinds of things onto the mural, to inspire flying.

Wings
Pegasus
Birds
Angels
Flying pigs
Dragons
you name it, we doodled it.

We’ll be hosting an art show this Summer to show off our mural. The finished product is beautiful, but the process to achieve it is even more so.

Freedom

Words escape me, on describing this Haiti Trip.
Cruel Poverty.
Beautiful Strength.
Raw Survival.
Laughter.
Love.

I know I need to go back, again and again to fully understand what is happening. Not on a political landscape. But a human landscape. This is truly what life is about … and I am so far removed from real life in my air conditioned SUV, in my air conditioned fully stocked supermarket, in my automatic overdraft online banking deposit a check through the iphone, in my new shoes and dresses, in my cook-what-I-feel-not-what-I-have for dinner, in my quest for self-actualization rather than survival.

ALL you need is love.
I love you Iyiti.
Thank you for reminding me who I should be and how to get there.

Mwen ren men ou.

never letting the Prestige Go

Prestige is the national beer of Haiti.

Julie stayed the night, and we couldn’t sleep without having a beer before bed. Of course she chose to bust out two of her 6, special Prestige’s from her dirty, dusty suitcase.

Stay tuned for an explosion of Haiti photos from our HOPE Art trip.

Cheers and thank you to all of you for your love and support, for this project of art love.

twelve resolutions for eleven

I posted these on Twitter over the last 48 hours, whirlygig style.

# New Years Resolution #1 Trim the Fat (financially, emotionally, athletically)

# New Years Resolution #2 “NURTURE, KNOW, & LOVE – THY TRUE SELF.” #LaurenHalliburton

# New Years Resolution #3 Just face the shit, look it in the eye, meet it head on & do the best you can.

# New Years Resolution #4 Forget possessions & collect people

# New Years Resolution #5 Let go, give space & be grateful for what was, is & will be.

# New Years Resolution #7 Welcome Feedback

# New Years Resolution #8 Give more than I take 12:28 PM Dec 31st via Echofon

# New Years Resolution #9 Play outside more !!

# New Years Resolution #10 Stop Flaking or hanging out with Flakers, or accepting flakiness, or dating flakers, or pretending like it’s cool.

# New Years Resolution #11 Take better care of myself, stop leaving house like a hag

# New Years Resolution #12 Make my own paper embedded with seeds to use for stationary.