A Day at the Horse Park

I spent most of my Saturday working, but that work was made a little better since I was doing it at the Kentucky Horse Park, a truly wonderful place.  Acres of rolling green fields broken up by white fences and beautiful horses.  I feel lucky to get to hang out here occasionally.

I'm living (temporarily) in Kentucky for a work project which is nearing completion,  With today marking the end of August, I just have 6 weeks left here, and as much as I'm looking forward to moving home, I'm going to miss this beautiful part of the world.

I listened to this on my way to work today and was reminded why I love Arcade Fire

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I Heart Your Blog

Last week, the oh-so-talented (and funny) R. Montalban surprised me with an "I Heart Your Blog" award. R Montalban has the most fantastic adventures, an adorable little boy, a very handsome husband and I love checking up on her adventures every day, I always leave her blog with a smile on my face.  Along with the award she paid me perhaps the most beautiful compliment ever, I'm still blushing to be described as being like velvet.  I've also had a chance to check out the other blogs she mentioned, and I can say I'm honored to be mentioned along with them.  Thank you so much R Montalban for such a sweet award!

The hard part of receiving this award is picking just five blogs to pass it on to.  I'm a mad-blog-reader and have a long list of places I love to check in with so limiting it to just five is not easy.  I'm going to try and pick some of the newer blogs I've discovered.

• First up is Caroline over at Constantly Evolving.  I discovered her blog mid-way through her project to photograph 30 Strangers.  I've been amazed by the beautiful portraits she's created and inspired by the courage it takes to walk up to a perfect stranger and ask to take his or her photo.  I keep hoping a little of her courage (and skills) will rub off on my just by reading her blog.
• A Scottish gal, HazyDaisy, says she's taking an August Break on her blog, but still post at least one amazing photo every day.  If only all our breaks could be so productive!  
• Suki is a beautiful photographer and nurse who posts the most amazing photos and consistently introduces me to amazing new songs and artist - which of course I LOVE!  Suki is German and not only manages to blog every day, she blogs in both German and English, and her posts are always thought provoking and lovely.
• Gibknitty over at Urban Muser a NYC girl who takes and posts amazing photos of New York, the kind that make me want to book a trip there straight away.  She also happens to be a talented knitter and cook, two talents I'm completely lacking, but I love reading about her projects/meals and dreaming of a time I might accomplish something similar.
• Finally, Kristine, from Blue Elephant Photography, who creates the most dreamy photos!  I love dropping in on her blog because I know I'll come away smiling and inspired.  

I could keep listing fantastic blogs for pages, but I'm the type who follows the rules, so I'll stop now, but with a note encouraging you to drop in on the blogs of these beautiful women, I promise you'll come away inspired.  

All this blog love (and the talented women involved) got me thinking about the two talented sisters who formed the core of Heart, here's one of my favorites of theirs:

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The Sunday Creative - Orient

I don't know about the other participants, but when I saw this weeks prompt I was afraid I was going to come up blank.  I toyed with going back to some of my photos from Asia, but after going that direction and cheating a bit last week, I was determined to come up a photo I'd actually taken this week for the prompt.

I did what had worked in the past and tried to keep my mind open, and eventually I found something.

As I walked through the park I noticed this bench under the tree.  Unlike nearly all the other benches in the park, it wasn't set up along the path facing in, so you could sit and watch the people.  Instead this bench was set far from the path and "oriented" towards the tree, with its back facing the path and main areas of the park.  I can imagine a person sitting there on the bench, staring in at the tree, meditating on life and love.   What a perfect place to ponder the direction of life.

If I were to sit on the bench for a while, I think I might be listening to this:



Did you see my weekly, Life's Soundtrack post over at Kim Klassen's Inspiration Studio?  If not, hop over and check it out.  We're discussing songs that take you back to your school years.

A big thank you to Kristine of Blue Elephant Photography (an AMAZING photographer) and Melanie (a VERY talented artist) from Ewe Hooo! for the awesome shout-outs on their blogs this week.  Their kind words had me blushing.  Thanks ladies.  If you are looking for new blogs to fill your reader, drop in on them, you'll find something you love. Pin It

How to be Alone

A few weeks ago Clare posted an amazing video, How to be Alone, on her blog.  In random moments I find myself thinking about it, how beautiful it was and how proud I am to say that I've managed to accomplish most of the suggestions found in it.



Don't get me wrong, I love being with people.  I enjoy meeting people and the conversations you have with people you've known for years and those you have with people you meet in line at the grocery store.  But there are times when being alone is a glorious gift.  I still need to work up the courage to go dancing alone, but it doesn't sound completely impossible after watching this a few time.

Do you enjoy alone time?  Have you ever dared the movie theatre on your own?  A cafe?

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Setting the Scene

One last arboretum post, but in this case I saved the best for last.  As I walked through the gardens I noticed a table covered in plants with a tea pot and cups.  I started looking closer and realized it was an entire Alice in Wonderland scene that had been set up in the garden.  Just looking at it made me happy!  I took a ton of pictures trying to find the perfect angle and to capture the whimsy of the scene.

My only complaint - I think they need a larger cheshire cat.

A little further down the path I was surprised by a scene that was even more fitting for a garden in Kentucky.  A chair with hat, gloves, gardening tools with a bottle of bourbon waiting for the tired gardener.

I felt like the arboretum gardeners had set the scene just for me.  

As I worked on what felt like an endless series of reports today, the Chris Martin/Michael Stipe version of "In the Sun" came on.  I found myself returning to the song several times.  It seemed to help me focus and relax, just like my weekend stroll through the arboretum did.

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Arboretum - Macro Style

We may be in the dog days of summer, but I still managed to find some beautiful flowers at the arboretum. They may be a little faded and showing their age, but there is real beauty to be found.  I spent quite a bit of time capturing macro shots of some of my favorites.  Yellow roses are one of my favorite flowers, especially when they are a soft yellow and tipped with peach.

But I also love bright happy flowers like the one above.  I especially love the little flowers that make up the inside.

But my favorite one this trip, was this pink rose.  I love the darker dots which I'm sure some would consider damage, but to me, they are what makes this flower unique and beautiful.

Do you have a favorite flower? Do you prefer elegant roses, mysterious orchids or happy daisies?

Another old school song that made my playlist at the arboretum - Steve Earle's "Good-bye."

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The Last Weekend

With the knowledge that this was my last true weekend for a couple months (the project I'm working is heating up.)  I made a list of the things I wanted to do.  It was a short list, but I wanted to end the weekend knowing I'd made the most of it.  First up, catch up on a bit of sleep.   I accomplished this by sleeping in 'til 11 Saturday, something that is nearly unheard of for me.

Next up, some creative time.  I took my camera to one of my favorite places in Lexington, the Arboretum.  It felt so good to spend some time in the garden with nothing to worry about other than how to make a good photo.

Then it was time for a little pampering.  I hit my favorite manicure place for a pedicure and a catch up on the gossip magazines.  While there I put aside my lady-like soft pink toe nail polish and replaced it with sassy teal polish.  Just the thing to put a little zing in my step.

I fit in some of the normal weekend stuff too - things like laundry, cleaning and grocery shopping.  But I also made time to sit down with photoshop and finally figure out how to use textures (thanks to Kim K. for the great textures.) 

The arboretum called out for a little old school music, including Rickie Lee Jones:

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The Sunday Creative - Ethereal

This week's prompt quickly made me think of children or delicate flowers or lace but I wanted something a bit different.  So I began thinking about the first half of the definition - heavenly or celestial, which then took me to my amazing weekend in Thailand and the temples that literally covered Chiang Mai.

One of my favorites was this crumbling ruin, which is pretty much the opposite of anything delicate or dainty, and yet it was built with heavenly thoughts in mind.  It was built thousands of years ago and still stands (at least in part.)  In this very sold structure prayers and meditations were sent up for thousands of years.

While coming up with a picture was difficult for this week's assignment, the song was easy.  No one's voice is as ethereal as Alison Krauss'

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Excitement comes in threes

I had three reasons today to do a happy dance - and that constitutes a pretty great day.

It started this morning when Kim Klassen sent me a note telling my post had gone up over at Inspiration Studio.  I'm thrilled to announce that I'll be posting there each Thursday.  So, if you haven't already, pop over and check the blog out, I promise you'll come away inspired, Kim has put together a great group of bloggers, a group I'm honored (and floored) to be a part of.  If you missed her Inspiration Stay-cation two weeks ago, the good news is you can still participate.  Kim has put together an incredible, interactive ebook you can purchase and follow along at your own pace - and yes my very first guest post is included, I can't quite believe something I wrote is in a book, (Mrs. Burr, my favorite English teacher, would be so proud.)

Then, this afternoon I discovered that my cupcake photo I posted earlier this week was featured on Mortal Muses' Everyday Beauty page!   There are so many talented photographers participating at Mortal Muse, to think that my photo is included - wow what a rush.  And it is doubly sweet since the star of the photo (and the model for that matter) was made by my sister.

Finally, I stopped at Target on my way home this evening to pick up Ray LaMontagne's new CD - on sale for $7.99, that's less than you can get it on iTunes folks - so if you are a fan, head on over and pick it up.  Here's a sneak peak:

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A little mumbling going on

I spent an hour in the dentist chair last night, never a fun thing.  I came away with a mouth so numb that I'm pretty sure I was drooling when I stopped at the grocery store on the way home.  It's times like these I'm glad I live in an unfamiliar city where the chances of running into someone I know are practically nil.

My mumbling attempts to talk on the phone reminded me of a band I've been meaning to write a post about: Mumford & Son (get it mumbling to Mumford?  maybe the gave me something a little stronger than I realized.)

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