love-and-gratitude365-blog - Tumblr blog

[love-and-gratitude365-blog]

Day 17

Jan 17, 2015

Yesterday after brunch, this guy and I went for a long walk around the neighbourhood and ended up at 33 Acres for a jar of beer. So grateful for this lil' monkey, his humour, his kindness, and his adorable smile when I start snapping pictures in his face. 

[love-and-gratitude365-blog]

Day 16

Jan 16, 2015 

I can feel this exercise of noticing really starting to work today. I always find a picture that can capture my gratitude, but now I'm finding so many instances in a day where I am grateful. Like this morning, when the sun bounced off the condo windows in front of us. These days are so precious in Vancouver that I drink up all I can. I got some bad news about my grandfather's health today. It's not a shock that this news came, but it is painful. I wrote him a letter today. I found myself at 33 Acres Brewery this morning with a pour over coffee and a sunbeam right where it needed to be. Overwhelmed, emotional, grateful. 

P.S. Happy Birthday to my baby girl, Aleisha Kalina. See you tonight, sugar! 

[love-and-gratitude365-blog]

Day 15

Jan 15, 2015 

I don't remember January being so beautiful in Vancouver. Just sun in the mist, mountains whitewashed with fog, and people. People walking everywhere enjoying the rainless day. Grateful. 

[love-and-gratitude365-blog]

Day 14

Jan 14, 2015 

Day 2 at the pottery studio is for trimming. Find the center of the pot, and trim away the excess. This is where the pots really start to have a personality. This is my absolute favourite process of ceramics. I love the feel of the clay skimming off the tool. Don't take too much, but don't leave it clunky. Unless clunky is the style, like the bowl I have in the back. So much gratitude for the time I have to hone this skill. 

[love-and-gratitude365-blog]

Day 13

Jan 13, 2015

Grateful for the wheel today. It's been weeks since I've been back to the pottery studio. The process of getting the clay ready for pulling and shaping is called centering. You first have to push and push the clay until it's right at the center of the wheel. Lots of elbow work, getting the underside of your palm right up under the clay mound. At first it's uncomfortable, and you're not sure if you're dong it right. But work the clay enough and you'll feel right where it's supposed to be. 

[love-and-gratitude365-blog]

Day 12

Jan 12, 2015 

Thankful for Monday mornings that begin tenderly, tea lights, and smooooth indie playlists. For not rushing to get all my chores done because it feels like I should. For those quiet days guided by desire, grateful. 

[love-and-gratitude365-blog]

Day 11

Jan 11, 2014

Had my heart set on watching the Golden Globes tonight to watch the magic that is Amy Poehler and Tina Fey. There is absolutely no live streaming in Canada so I was finding myself plunging into first-world disappointment. Was feeling like a kid having a tantrum. No a good feeling. Not cute. So I brought the sparkle into my world. Grateful for youtube uploaders, cadbury chocolate, and Matt dealing with all the shades of me. 

[love-and-gratitude365-blog]

Day 10

Jan 10, 2015

Recently, I've noticed that I always feel like I "need to be doing something." I am constantly on the lookout for activities or tasks that will make me feel like I am being a better more productive person. While this has given me an amazing Let's-Get-This-Shit-Done work ethic, it also holds me back when I really need to be passive. Reflective. More restorative. It's an uncomfortable shift to go from doing to being. After dinner tonight I was feeling particularly raw. I'd started prepping for dinner hours ago, chopping the vegetables, making the marinade, even preparing making rosemary biscuits. It was complicated! And for no other reason than it was something I wanted to DO. So now that dinner is over, and a Saturday night is on front of me, I feel tender and bothered that I don't have something planned for us to do. And I don't know what's more uncomfortable, the lack of things to do or the awareness that it bothers me so much. 

Tonight, I'm grateful for the hard stuff: raw emotions, empty schedules, dirty dishes, and writing it all out. 

[love-and-gratitude365-blog]

Day 9

Jan 9, 2015 

Grateful for lunch with a dear friend, for linen napkins, and Friday afternoons with sun. Sometimes I just need to get out of the house to get my work done. Happy to have wifi and coffee before sharing lunch with a friend. 

[love-and-gratitude365-blog]

Day 8

Jan 8, 2015 

I took myself out for a late lunch today and brought this fierce lady Amy Poehler with me. Her book shares some hilarious yet poignant insights on life, career, drugs, and love. I found the only table in the restaurant with the muted winter sun and relaxed, read, and ate sushi in the light. Grateful for wandering, rare but beautiful sunlight, and my boots that were made for walking. 

[love-and-gratitude365-blog]

Day 7

Jan 7, 2015 

Tonight, I'm grateful for my kitchen. It's one of the spaces in my house where I can get super creative and make something that everyone will enjoy. Grateful for rosemary, well-loved cutting boards, sharp knives, gas-lit stoves, and spicy red wine. Bon appetit! 

[love-and-gratitude365-blog]

Day 6

Jan 6, 2015

Grateful for this mild winter. Was feeling cabin-fevered in the house today, so I took a very long route home on my way back from the coffee shop on Main. The weather outside was so perfectly January. Gray, cool, and wet. For fresh air, dog parks, and outdoor community libraries, grateful. 

[love-and-gratitude365-blog]

Day 5

Jan 5, 2015

Grateful for technology, for instant photos, for text message across the country. When this man and I lived in the same city, our visits seemed farther apart than they are now. It's nothing short of magic that living further away has brought us closer to each other. It takes time, effort, and love for kilometers to keep this precious friendship together. So sometimes we text pictures, so we can share our moments. 

[love-and-gratitude365-blog]

Day 4

Jan 4, 2015 

Grateful for faux fur blankets, for books I can't get enough of, and rain this Sunday. While I did make it out for some grocery shopping, most of the day was spent inside, dressed in cotton head-to-toe, cooking, cleaning, and playing with my love. Days like this tend to make me feel really restless, but today was calmer, sweeter. Turned down the lights, lit a candle, and cooked like it was alchemy. And grateful for these legs of mine, feeling like myself in my own body. No comparison, no "should have's," "could haves." Only love.  

[love-and-gratitude365-blog]

Day 3

Jan 3, 2015 

Grateful for some creative time this Saturday morning. Rather than our typical brunching routine, Matt and I packed up our gear and headed out for some for some coffee and creativity. He brought his drawing notebook and I am working on a rather unusual job application. Feeling somewhat anxious, slow, and out of practise for this whole process. Grateful for fresh paper, flowing coffee, and endless people outside that I can watch when the screen becomes too much. 

[love-and-gratitude365-blog]

Day 2

Jan 2, 2015 

Grateful for the place where I rest my head every night. Had a particularly hard time getting out of bed with a cold this morning, so I decided I didn’t have to. I carried a cup of coffee in with me and Lena Dunham’s book. Precarious with a chance of spilling, but we made it work. Warmth, softness. A place to be vulnerable. Thank you, bedroom. 

[love-and-gratitude365-blog]

Day 1

Jan 1, 2015

  Gratitude for the colour orange. For the flowers that Matt brought home for me this morning, January 1st, when I was feeling too sick to get out of bed. New Year’s Eve puts the Pain in Champagne. Grateful for orange juice, and the vitamin C that it gives me. For health around the corner, a new year. So much to be grateful for and I promise to acknowledge one thing that I am thankful for every day of 2015.