Happy Earth Day!

I'm a little late with this post, but I hope all of you were still able to recognize and appreciate this beautiful planet we live on.  Yay for green and growth!  Happy Earth Day!!  

mesa dreams leatherworks

Hey friends!  I hope everyone is doing well!  The sun is shining and it is just glorious outside right now!  I wanted to stop in to share with you some photos I took of my 'mini-me' and the awesome belts and buckle that were custom made for her by my wonderful, and insanely talented friend Brandy Kayzakian-Rowe of Mesa Dreams Leatherworks.  Some of you might recall an interview I did with Brandy, focusing primarily on her photography and artwork, awhile back.  Seriously, she is a powerhouse in and of herself!  Brandy, her husband Djerek - who is also her partner in this new artistic venture, and their pups, made the move to Colorado from New Hampshire little over a year ago.  You can see how Colorado's rugged yet beautiful landscape and Southwestern culture has helped inspire her to work with a different medium:  leather.

Brandy is always coming up with new ideas and products.  One of her newer creations, which has been getting a lot of attention lately, is the Leather Clutch Wallet.  It is GORGEOUS!  I want one!!  This gem's beauty is all in the amazing detail work.  Just looking at it makes you want to travel all over the globe JUST so you can add more stars to your wallet!

I cannot thank Brandy enough for sharing her brilliant talents with my family, and for making my kid (and her Mama) super happy!

For more information, and to also stay up-to-date with new products, check out Brandy's Facebook page, as well as her Etsy shop.

april showers . . .

The rain was pretty intense the last couple days.  The sun did finally break through the pretty bleak weather later on in the day.  Meanwhile, I was able to appreciate some color and a few remaining raindrops left on some of the plants and flowers we have around.  So grateful Mother Nature has a way of perking us up with her beauty.  

Have a wonderful weekend friends!

bottled history | a video

Yesterday, my grandfather would have celebrated his 82nd birthday.  He absolutely loved the sea.  This morning, I came across this video, part of the Smith Journal series by Australian filmmakers, Commoner Films.  From the moment I hit the play button, I immediately thought of Grandpa.  I think he would've enjoyed this story, and I think you will too.   Also, April is National Poetry Month.  I thought maybe you'd enjoy a little bit of Whitman today as well.

After the sea-ship, after the whistling winds,

After the white-gray sails taut to their spars and ropes,

Below, a myriad myriad waves hasting, lifting up their necks,

Tending in ceaseless flow toward the track of the ship,

Waves of the ocean bubbling and gurgling, blithely prying,

Waves, undulating waves, liquid, uneven, emulous waves,

Toward that whirling current, laughing and buoyant, with curves,

Where the great vessel sailing and tacking displaced the surface,

Larger and smaller waves in the spread of the ocean yearn fully flowing,

The wake of the sea-ship after she passes, flashing and frolicsome under the sun,

A motley procession with many a fleck of foam and many fragments,

Following the stately and rapid ship, in the wake following.

After the Sea-Ship by Walt Whitman