I feel like it's time for a catch-up post. Here's what I've been up to, in no particular order...
Working out. It's been almost seven months since I've started working out and folks, it's still happening! Aside from a few two-workout weeks I've been exercising three to four times a week for 27 weeks y'all. TWENTY-SEVEN weeks. Expect a check-in post soon.
Creating digital art. Open app, open photo(s); a swoosh here and a tap there and BAM! Art. Mobile photography is one of my most satisfying forms of creative play. It's quick and intuitive, but still challenging because one must know how to use the tools at hand. When I start, it's easy for me to forget all about time and get lost in a tizzy of creative flow. Bliss.
Stairway @ the MMFA, mobile photography, created using some of my favourite apps
© 2018 Stephanie Guimond
Working. My day job is taking up a lot of space and energy these days. On some days I fall into flow, just like I do when I'm creating digital art. On other days I leave feeling tired and overwhelmed at the amount of tasks on my to-do list. Either way, every day I am engaged and love what I do. I've waited a loooong time to say that I enjoy my work and part of me is afraid of admitting it, should "the other shoe drop." But OMG it is a gift and every day I count my lucky stars that I get paid to do something I enjoy doing. I love my work. How freakin' cool is THAT?
Reading. Art books. Fun books. Magazines. A Julia Cameron book I've never read that I am thoroughly enjoying (goodness I love her stuff). And I just requested eight books about Project Management from the library. Watch out!
Trying out new recipes. Moroccan spiced cauliflower soup (meh on the overall soup, but YUM on the roasted cauliflower pieces that went in it), maple curry chicken (yes), stuffed peppers (with quinoa), taco seasoned beef, cauliflower and sweet potato curry, smoky potato chickpea stew (yes!) and the latest - a sure keeper, a crustless bacon, broccoli and cheddar quiche. I bought the Yum & Yummer cookbook at Costco before the Holidays and vowed that I'd actually try the recipes that were in it, the same with the recipes I save on Facebook (you know you do it too!). Lo & behold I'm trying them and it's fun. I highly recommend it.
Meal prep allows me to try new recipes AND helps me get my workouts in. From top left, clockwise: baked chicken fajita mix, brown rice, taco beef mix, shredded cheddar.
Renewing my wardrobe. It's spring. I've been adding a little bit of happy to my usual palette of black and charcoal. There seem to be a lot of flowers. It feels good. Renewal. Fresh. Yes.
Escaping. Last month D. and I took a weekend trip to Montreal. We took the train, ate chips, chocolate and watched the Olympics in the hotel room. We savoured the overpriced hotel buffet and sipped coffee from the sleek white "restaurant" cups. We got out for a visit to the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, or MMFA, one of my happy places. An interesting note about expectations: I was tired when we left and it took me most of the weekend to accept that it was OK to relax and be exactly where I was - tired and craving rest instead of bustling adventure in the big city. It was OK to not force myself to spend a "night on the town" when all I felt like doing was curl up in the white terry cloth robe that hung in the hotel room closet. I spent an awful lot of time feeling guilty about that. The moral of this story?
Sometimes expectations get in the way of enjoyment. We gotta let that shit go.
A snippet of Matisse's Seated Woman, Back Turned to the Open Window @ the MMFA. I love how one side of hair is a reddish brown and the other is a much darker brownish black.
When I lay it all out here I see that even when I hunker and think things are slow there's a lot going on.
What have YOU been up to lately? I bet it's more than you think.
In spirit of discovery,
Stephanie
xo