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Finding Joy, Not Stress in the Holidays

Obviously I haven't been posting regularly. I have been trying to be intentional with my time, and haven't been prioritizing this. I have however been taking a mindfulness course and have been trying to start a regular meditation practice for myself (after years of planning to). More on that at a later time...  When I scrolled my google headlines this morning, I did click on and quickly scan this one from CNBC: 12 tiny meaningful ways to feel happier this holiday season, says expert: They’re better than ‘faking joy’ . With tiny things in the title, it has me hooked. I had also just finished a walk with a friend, which felt necessary and good. I do think we need these reminders to enjoy the little things, to take notice, and to not just accept a fate of being overwhelmed. One that stood out to me was to notice the positive - or neutral. As a self proclaimed realist, I've been feeling like there's a lot of negative energy around, a lot of complaints. I even reminded my...
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Feeling Alive

  This summer we had the pleasure of visiting Jack London State Park near Sonoma twice. While this post isn't about our walk there, it is inspired by his (Jack's) words.  I wasn't previously aware of his life and all that he accomplished, but we were all quite impressed. One famous quote of Jack's that stuck with me (since it plays to my interests) is The proper function of man is to live, not to exist. I shall not waste my days in trying to prolong them. I shall use my time I found this to be a great reminder to LIVE. My cancer diagnosis and treatment, that started in Spring 2023 didn't leave me with a new lease on life, but in a way left me feel mortal. A good reminder perhaps. I don't necessarily live differently. I make some slightly different food choices, I no long drink alcohol, I make sure to lift heavy weights, and go to my appointments. However, with my love of habits and mindfulness, I am reminded to actually live. So many of us are going through the...
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Bay Area Young Survivors Breast Cancer Memorial Garden

*This was written at the start of summer, but I am only now getting around to posting it :) My son and I recently set out to find the  Bay Area Young Survivors Breast Cancer Memorial Garden in Golden Gate Park. I knew it existed and had just been opened.  I think it's great that BAYS was able to create this Memorial Garden with the help of San Francisco Recreation and Parks Department. It doesn't feel like a small thing, it feels quite large (in my heart anyway). It is the first public memorial of its kind in the USA. They have done a BIG thing by doing this 'small' thing as a way of remembrance and creating a place of connection. We did love the design and the ability for people to leave flowers.  I enjoyed the location, the views, the benches, the quotes. However, it did bring up questions from my then seven year old: "Why is breast cancer so popular?" "Why isn't your name here?" So we continue to have harsh realities and have hard conversatio...
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Gifting Culture - Time for a Change?

  I recently had a birthday, so it feels timely to post on this topic. Gifting has changed in my family over the years already. My brother and I no longer exchange gifts (with our spouses either), but we do give gifts to our nephews. This year my mom suggested that we stop birthday gifts, and I was definitely on board with that; she did still send me a card though. With an increase in consumerism and disposable income, I find that we often don't know what to buy for a gift, because people already 'have everything'. Over the years this has led me to focus on asking for and giving experience/consumable gifts when I can. We do still buy things that our kids need or want, but we also try to not overdo it.  Gifts are meant to tell the person that you were thinking of them, so it's strange to think that they've become somewhat mandatory with certain holidays. We do feel that the conversations with friends have been easy and we often ask for no gifts at our children's ...
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Franz Marc

  In 2023 when we stayed home for the summer due to my cancer diagnosis and treatments, we started learning about artists together. We continue to learn, as there are so many artists. Learning this way inspires us to create our own pieces, get outside our comfort zone and learn new techniques.  We don't have a firm schedule, but recently had time, so we learned about Franz Marc. He was a German artist known for painting animals and using bright colors to express emotion. It was fun to think outside the box like Marc and create blue horses.  Typically we watch a few videos on the artist, such as this , and then decide on a project. Websites like Artsy Crafty Mom have been great for providing many options relating to a single artist.  We found a technique online (I can't find the video to share right now), where they picked a horse outline they liked, printed it off, and traced it. Then used colored crayons for wax resistance but also colored markers to outline the ho...
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Museum Visit & Print-Making (Legion of Honor)

  I'm still catching up on past adventures. Over the winter break, we had passes to see special exhibits & the kids insisted that we use them. We saw the 'Mary Cassatt At Work' exhibit at the Legion of Honor . We enjoyed seeing her impressionist paintings with women as the focus, but the kids were intrigued to learn about her print-making, which is what inspired our art. Amelia had also recently finished a print-making class, so it was a special surprise to learn about Mary Cassatt's.      We continue to play with different mediums, go outside our comfort zones with our creativity, & learn about art history/artists along the way.
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Museum Visit & Magazine Weaving (ICA SF)

We visited the new location for the Institute of Contemporary Art San Francisco (345 Montgomery Street) back in January. I have been doing other things, but am now here to share what we created based on our visit. As part of their 'Poetics of Dimensions' exhibit by artist  Miguel Arzabe  we looked at different ways of weaving, like his 'Last Weaving' (shown above). Then of course we found our way to their Makers Studio to find old magazines to use to make our own woven art (*we love museums that have hands on spaces for adults & kids to be artists too!). His: Hers: Mine: We also had fun seeing the art of a claw game. The kids were able to get coins from the front desk and we talked about the psychology of wanting to win, feeling like you can win, and then losing. The kid were familiar with these types of games, but the exhibit challenged them to see it differently and as art. ICA SF is always free and was an easy train ride for us. If you haven't been, we'd ...
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