Media Monday

This Media Monday is about a great book gone movie.

Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert

A few years ago, my sister and I decided to read this great book together. Well, not exactly "together" together. We decided to read 12 chapters a week (they are pretty short chapters and really we were holding ourselves back from reading more. It's a really smooth read and we were just trying to savor it. Plus each section had chapters divisible by 12 so it just made sense.) and then at the end of the week we discussed it. I'm a nerd so I actually would jot down topics or quotes that I wanted to remember to bring up.

The book is divided into 3 parts: Eat = Italy, Pray= India, and Love= Indonesia. After we finished the first section of the book, we had an Italian night. We went to an Italian restaurant and ordered Elizabeth Gilbert style. Then we went to a new gelato shop and tried a few yummy flavors before picking the one we wanted. We had a really fun time. After the second section, we decided to meditate together. My sister's mother-in-law was in the process of building a beautiful chapel in her backyard so we decided to do it there. We had a family night over there and when the sun started setting, the two of us went into the chapel, sat on the floor, chose our position, and meditated. Gosh, I don't remember how long we sat there. I do know that it was completely dark in there and that just as my mind would start floating, the darn peacock would start crying. I believe it was my sister's first time meditating. I was honored to get to share it with her. After the last section and we had finished the book, we discussed what to do to celebrate. This last section was a little harder to decided on an activity that fit. If you know my sister, you'll understand how shocked I was when she suggested we go get our palms read. (or maybe I suggested it and she agreed. Its a little fuzzy.) Anyways, we had full intention to go, but never just picked a time and did it.

What I'm trying to say is it's a great book and I whole heartily recommend it! Whether you read it alone or with someone else, just read it! You still have time before the movie comes out this Summer. (tentative release date August 13th) I am sooo going to see it. Wanna fly to Portland, Shell, and see it with me? It would only be fitting to see it with my sis. Mom, you can come, too. ;)

the trailer

an interview with Elizabeth Gilbert
she talks about inspiration and her creative process, which even though she's a writer and not an 'artist', i find it insightful and relevant to my life.



This interview is long by a lot of peoples standards, but when it's someone who you truly admire (as I do) it leaves me wanting more. If you'd rather listen to just a quick snippet of the full interview, you can pick and choose the topics you are most interested by going to bigthink.com.

Gone Camping

We are headed out in less than an hour to go backpacking and camping for the weekend. I haven't been there before, but supposedly we are hiking in 4 miles to a waterfall and then a little further to set up camp. Right now the plan is to stay til Monday. If I'm not just totally spent when I get home Monday, I'll try and have at least some of the pics for Tuesday Travels. I have already finished Media Monday so expect to see it on Monday Morning.

here's where we're going


View Larger Map

yay, lets get outside and soak up some sunshine!!

Art Critique #3

Art Critique #3: MONKEY AROUND

16"x20" acrylic painting

I'm not sure if its 'done' or not. What do you think?

It's been awhile since I did an art critique so I'm kind of excited! I love hearing others ideas and feedback. Good, Bad, and Ugly. Suggestions. thumbs up. what ever you feel inclined to share. Just let me have it :)

backwards day

Yesterday was another great day, but it turned out that we did things a little ... backwards?


(note: I carried my camera around all day, but didn't take a single picture. This pic was from a previous kiting at the beach day. I just think my shadow dreads are cute.)

Someone decided to play hooky from work and play with me all day instead. We decided to hike up the hill near our house to check out the neighborhood hot tub. A couple people were already soaking there, but they were nice and we joined them for awhile. It was probably around 2 in the afternoon and granted probably much colder here then most other places in the US right now (I'd guess 50 degrees), but it actually felt pretty warm to be sitting in a hot tub. Don't get me wrong, it was nice and felt pretty good, but I kept standing with my upper body out of the water to cool off.

After that we decided to go to the beach and fly the kite. There wasn't much wind at the top of the mountain where we live, but we hoped there'd be some at the bottom by the lake. So we went and it was super windy. Like chilly where gloves and hat chilly. We took turns flying the kite. The wind was so strong it was literally pulling me around with the kite. As we left the beach, the wind seemed to die down so the chill left too.

Around five we made it to happy hour at the Naked Fish for some sushi. Yum! We left a little room so we thought 'ice cream'. As we walked a ways it started to sprinkle and again get chilly. That's when it hit me. Eating ice cream while walking in the cold rain. Sitting in the hot tub in the warm afternoon. What a backwards day. So we turned around and walked back to the car. Instead of eating ice cream in the rain, we bought a carton at the grocery store and took it home. As we drove back up the mountain, the rain turned into snow. (this would have been a good time to be sitting in the hot tub.) He worked the rest of the evening while I sat by the fire and watched 'Youth in Revolt" ... and later ate some ice cream. ;)

It was a fun day. I also got some painting done before we played, so I'll take some pics and share that with you soon. I'm not sure if it's done or not so I might turn it into a critique. hmmm, not sure. off to create! have a fabulous day!

Media Monday - Zee Avi

Zee Avi
I love her music! It's a go-to for happy vibes.

Zee Avi tells her story

all photos can be found on last.fm

the Sunday Special

i made split pea soup for the first time this week. i just followed the directions on the bag. it's a pretty simple recipe.

Split Pea Soup

boil 4 1/2 quarts water. add 1 bag of split peas, chopped onion, carrots, and celery. season to taste. ( i used white pepper and a Tuscany blend = sundried tomato, basil, bell pepper, and parsley. I tend not to add salt when i'm cooking so it might seem bland to some. the saltine crackers were all i needed for salt.) cook for an hour or until peas are starting to get soft. you can either eat it chuncky or puree it. we did both. all but the last bowl was eaten chunky. i would suggest to puree it and eat with saltines. *edit: I forgot to mention that I added sour cream to it instead of the recommended milk. I didn't measure it so my guess is maybe half a cup.*

a healthy dish you could serve chilled on a hot day if you want, but i prefer warm soups... especially when we have snow on the ground again. can you believe it? good grief :)

a great message

I just watched a little video over at Making Chicken Salad that had a great message and I want to share it with you. Something I've been telling myself, or trying to convince myself of maybe, for awhile now. I'm not sure if I believe it yet, but I keep telling myself.

"...you have to decide right now its ok to be you... you're not deciding what you want to be, you're deciding to be who you are and that's really really, i think, the most important thing is to respect and honor your truth..." Kevin Aucoin

here's the whole video


hope you're all having a fun weekend so far. i've been painting my monkey :)

Free for all Friday

home alone for the next couple days so hmmm.... while drinkin my homemade smoothie, I'm thinking a painting party.

(yes, the ledge is slanted. no worries, I didn't loose my smoothie.)

lets see..... music: check (grooveshark, baby! anyone have some favorite painting music?)
munchies: I can make some guac
drinks: a bottle of wine maybe
ambiance: a fire would be nice

what should I paint? I have a monkey painting I started that I could work on.

Wild Wednesday - Fire Tricks

This past Saturday, we were invited to a camp-out, however we didn't get the memo that it was a 'CARNI' Camp-out. For those who don't know what this is... there are costumes and carnival type activities/entertainment going on. We had a good time watching others on dirt bikes and full suspension bikes, etc. jumping over the fire pit.

(smoldering) fire jumpers

Matty the Birthday Boy in TuTu (reason for the party)



Owen on the Unicycle



more Fire Jumpers

whoops, i missed him. darn camera delay.

shows ya how high the fire got

There was also a fire spinner (yay! another dready girl) and juggler.

fire girl (i didn't get any pics of the fire juggler)

Tuesday Travels' TIPs & TRICKs

My recent experience at the airport gave me an idea....to share some travel tips and tricks with you. I normally travel by car, but this time it was appropriate to fly. I found it silly to pay for checked luggage so (to my very girly sister's dismay) managed to pack 2 weeks worth of clothes and shoes into my carry-on bag. I also brought a small bookbag that contained my laptop, sketchbook, indie biz binder, and pencil bag. Oh, and I also carried a 16x20 painting (this one) that I wrapped in newspaper to disguise it as reading material. lol. it worked :)

Just to fully visualize this, my carry-on was completely full, but it just goes to show you (well, me, really) that one can get by just fine on only a few outfits. I actually didn't even wear everything I brought. well.... maybe I did. (see video below)

ok. lets get to it.

Challenge: I want to bring my scanner back to Tahoe with me. I'm too broke/cheap to mail it plus I don't want it to get damaged. I read the airlines rules on luggage and found that I was only able to bring 1 carry-on bag and 1 personal item. The personal item could be a laptop bag, a briefcase, a handbag, OR a small bookbag. So I need to make my 3 items equal 2 items, without exceeding the size limitations.

Hmmm. I debated leaving most of my clothes behind and packing the scanner in my carry-on bag. Decided against it because I really wanted to have the scanner box too since traveling in the car/trailer makes loose, improperly packaged objects likely to get damaged.

Solution: I used kraft paper to make the scanner box less noticeable and hopefully pass as an over-sized (20 x 14.5 x 6) briefcase. ;) it has a handle even. I then layered as many of my clothes as I could managed without looking to 'obvious'. Since I was now wearing almost the whole contents of my carry-on, I managed to then fit my book bag and all its contents in my carry-on, plus a few items I wasn't able to wear. My carry-on I'm sure surpassed the weight limit but I knew as long as the stewardess didn't try to lift it, noone would know. (just fyi. i was a little worried about my healing hand, but it managed to help get my bag in and out of the overhead compartment resulting in a few aches afterward but doing quite fine.) I DID make it back to Tahoe, to my surprise, without being hassled or questioned about the big extra box. I didn't pass out from heat exhaustion even though it was in the 70's when I departed Wichita and when I arrived in Sacramento.

Here's a little video demonstrating my layering technique =)
note: the pink bottom layer are leggings (aka long underwear) so I didn't want to strip down to them for you.

Media Monday - Elephant Revival

Elephant Revival

(source)

I first saw this band at the Walnut Valley Music Festival in Winfield, KS in 2008 on Stage 5. Stage 5 is one of the unofficial stages setup where bands can just sign up for a time slot and play. Oh, yeah... it happens to be on the bed of an old pickup truck. It's a low key, more personal atmosphere than the big official stages.

What intrigued me the most about Elephant Revival was their washboard playin' skills and cute girls in sun dresses. ;) There are also males in this group, but I have to admit that I gravitate toward female artists. If you want a little history about them, here's their website.

Bridget and Bonnie from Elephant Revival w/ Daniel

a soft one.

cute girls in sun dresses playing with Opal Fly (who is good too)

the Sunday Special

We hit a few happy hours this week. We honestly go to them because of the good deals on food, but a drink is now and again is alright too. =)

One place we frequent for happy hour is Cilantro's Mexican Cantina in Stateline, NV. Its pretty close and they have awesome deals. Our faves are the $1 fish tacos and $5 nachos. I'm not talkin' skimpy, greasy fast food. I can seriously get full on chips and 2 tacos. If the two of us split the nachos, I am usually stuffed! But they are just so good that I can't help but eat my share. They are seriously my favorite nachos ever!!! The chips stay crunchy. They pile the toppings so high that sometimes we have to ask for more chips to finish it. They do not use that cheap yucky 'nacho' cheese. They use white beans, shredded cheese, any meat you want (my fave is the shredded beef), tomatoes, onions, cilantro (of course), guac, sour cream, jalapenos, and we add salsa from their full salsa bar. We asked for beef this time, but either they gave us steak or they've changed their beef to cubes instead of shredded. Either way, it was still yummy.

Wild HAIR Wednesday

So I'm dedicating this Wild Wednesday to my WILD Hair-dos. Well, actually ALL my hair-dos I've had through the years. I'm sure this seems pretty narcissistic, but what the hey ;) I haven't posted any (current) pictures of myself for months. And since this is my domain (ha, ha) I get to do this sort of thing. =)

JessieB's 30 years of Hair-Do's

not much there.......natural curls.........bowl cut

long version of the pixie.........long w/ feathered bangs.........short angular bob

1st perm AND a head band, ha ha.......from 91 to 98 it grew to my waist......partial cornrows

(still wet) partial cornrows.....all one length (fat curling iron used).....long pixie

long bob.......grown out again......2nd perm ever = soft waves

crunchy curls.....1st high & lowlights (blond n caramel)......1st all over color plus stripes

dark w/BLUE & platinum stripes (worn straightened til it started to fade)....blue stripey curls

blue stripey curls.....dark w/PURPLE & platinum stripes (straightened with a flat iron)

dark w/PURPLE & platinum stripes.....dark w/caramel & platinum stripes (straightened)

dark n caramel stripey curls........short dark flip......dark pixie-ish (professionally thinned out)

short dark natural curls......blond wig (1st go @ blond).....brunette straightened with flip

little piggies...........wavy.........tad longer pigtails

growing..... Straightened (never chemically tho, just flat ironed).....natural curls

BLOND w/ lots of layers.......pretty feathers.....natural waves (testing out long bangs)

natural look......a little blonder (straightened)......my go-to in hot weather or active times

still lovin' the blond waves......Whoops! a little too blond (good 4 rainbow bright) w/long BANGS

pretty blond.........soft blond with bangs.....& me in lipstick (very rare!!)

long straight pigtails n' bangs......curly twisted up pigtails......freshly dyed blond

wavy with long bangs................teased w/shorter bangs

straightened blond w/layered bangs.......still rockin' the blond waves!!.......active do

braids (best way to keep tangles at bay).......natural waves.......gettin' long & roots are a showin'



And just in case there is still some of you who don't know yet........
I now have DREADLOCKS!!

January 29th, 2010 - just finished


March 2010

p.s. I couldn't find a couple cute childhood photos I wanted to use so when I find them, I'll just update this post.

Tuesday Travels

My 2 week visit to Wichita is ending today and I'm headed back to Tahoe... where I hear it's been snowing again. (btw it's in the 70's here, but there was a tornado yesterday)

clickin' my heels together (pic from 2008)

Feelings: Love my family. Gonna miss all the kisses. Wish I could take my family and friends with me. I'm itchin' to start painting again.

Media Monday - Imelda May

Trying to figure out what kind of mood I'm in today. I tend to like calm music (or silence actually) in the morning so I was looking for something in that vein....However, I stumbled across this Rockin' Lady in my bookmarks. Ever bookmark something and months or years later you re-discover it? I love that! I love leaving little "surprises" for my future self. Try leaving your favorite chapstick in your winter coat to find it next winter. (I actually have a different one in every jacket and coat I own.) I promise it will put a smile on your face. I use to do it with cash sometimes, too. =D

So I'm listening to Imelda May today. Some slow soothing songs and some that will rock your socks off!



Below is a string of videos with on-tour clips, etc. Its fun, but my favorite is the very first song.



If you're captivated by Miss Imelda May, here are her gig dates/locations.

My Mothers

Last year I was lucky enough to have all "my mothers" in one place on Mother's Day.

my sister, my mom, my grandma, and my step-mom

This year I've gotten lucky again, thanks to this little guy having a birthday!

7 years ago

Happy Birthday Ethan!! And Happy Mother's Day to all the Mother's out there!