One Week One Job

"What should I do with my life?" As someone who has struggled with this question (um, DAILY), I was quite intrigued by the story of Sean Aiken, who I learned about last year during a Good Morning America segment. Upon graduating college without a clue as to his career path, Sean decided to try out 52 jobs in 52 weeks (while donating all his earnings to charity). He took any job that was offered to him, and ended up trying his hand at everything from advertising to banking to farming.

Now he has a book and a documentary on the way, and his blog, "One Week One Job," features a program where other people can try their hand at a variety of jobs for a semester.

Overall, I think this is a pretty inspiring idea. The practical side of me wonders how much you can actually learn in a week about a job or a field completely new to you, and I question if the quest for the all-too-illusive "passion" that is emphasized in the documentary trailer is somewhat mythical and prevents us from being present and happy in our lives. But the thought of trying out a bunch of different jobs without too much commitment DOES appeal to me, the drifter and constant sufferer of career-induced ennui. I think a program like this would have been very useful in college, especially for those "undecided" majors. Many schools integrate internship programs, but it usually occurs after a student has already declared a major.

Hearing about Sean's journey made me start to daydream about what kinds of careers I'd love to dabble in if I had the chance. If I had a week, I'd love to try my hand at being a(n):
- Interior Designer/Stylist
- Nurse
- Magazine Editor (for a Somerset Studio publication, if I can choose!)
- Nutritionist/Dietitian
- High School Art Teacher
- Independent coffeehouse owner or manager
- Yoga Teacher
- The person who picks out music for TV show scenes (no idea what this job is called!)

How about you?? I'd love to hear about any jobs you'd like to try out if you had the chance!

Another Check Off the Life List

This weekend I was able to check another item off my Life List when we had the opportunity to dine with friends at Frontera Grill, one of the restaurants of James Beard Award and Top Chef Masters winner Rick Bayless. It was my first experience dining at a restaurant of a "celebrity chef," but it is something that I've long wanted to do. I don't believe it takes a famous name to have a good restaurant, but I still think there's something fun about dining at place that is well-respected in the culinary world. And Rick Bayless is renowned for using seasonal and local ingredients, which I strongly support.

Our dining experience was good. Not great, but good. At the end of the evening, my socks just weren't blown off. We waited about 2 and a 1/2 hours to be seated (since they only accept limited reservations), and while we waited my husband and friends sampled a variety of margaritas while I tried an iced tea made from flowers and a mango-mint juice. For dinner we started with an appetizer of sustainable, sushi-grade tuna with avocado-tomatillo guacamole and mango-grapefruit salsa on house-made chips, and that was delicious. My entree was a homemade-ricotta and chile tamale in yellow mole sauce over grilled local summer squash, while my husband and friends had a variety of the meaty entrees. It seemed like the food was all enjoyable, but perhaps a bit less impressive than I had hoped. So all-in-all, it was fun to spend time with friends and check something off the Life List, but I probably won't need to go back (or if I do, I'll stick to appetizers and the small-plates, which all seemed a bit more interesting than the entrees). I do think I'll still give XOCO a try, which is Rick's quick-service, street-food eatery next door.

Have any of you eaten at a "celebrity chef" restaurant? How was your experience?

Well Said : Dawna Markova

Today's edition of "Well Said" is a bit special, because I was invited to create this quote illustration especially for KaileenElise's blog as she celebrates "32 Days of Sparkle" leading up to her 1 Year Blogiversary! I'm so happy to be a part of the celebration.

So, if you are visiting from Kaileen's blog and here for the first time, welcome! I'm so glad you are here!

And if you are a regular reader of the Life is a Canvas blog, I encourage you to hop over and visit Kaileen's blog-- she has so much positive and sparkly energy that I'm sure you will enjoy!

If you would like to download a freebie print of the above quote, please click here to head over to Google Documents where you can download a copy for yourself! It is designed to be 8.5"x11", so it will print easily on home printers. Frame it, scrapbook with it, or even use it as your desktop background on your computer. I hope you enjoy it! {Please note: This file is not for redistribution or resale.}

And thanks again to Kaileen for inviting me to join the fun! Happy Blogiversary to you!

School Nostalgia : Part 2

Image from WeHeartIt
Yesterday I waxed poetic about university life and how much I miss being a part of that culture. Today, I'm trying to shift my focus a bit onto the various ways I can actively bring those feelings I miss into my life once again. There's no reason I can't try to capture the attributes I long for, like the intellectual spirit or cultural diversity, even if I'm not a student again (yet).

Here are the small steps I brainstormed:

- Take my laptop to the public library to work on blog posts or other projects.
- Check out a book a week on a subject I want to learn more about.
- Think about joining or starting a book club.
- Write reviews of books, movies, or restaurants on sites like Amazon, Rotten Tomatoes or Yelp.
- Talk walks through the campus of the old, Catholic university in my town.
- Attend performances and cultural events hosted by local colleges.
- Download a slew of new music (since I'd always do this at the beginning of each semester).
- Take a class through the park district or a community college.
- Spend a few hours in a cafe with a chai latte and books or writing (which I already do quite often).
- Perhaps start studying for the GRE in my free time (although I wouldn't call that "fun").
- Email some professors or professionals who study areas I am interested in.
- Volunteer in these areas.
- Pick out a new "back to school" outfit just for fun.
- Get a haircut - mainly because 1) I need to and 2) it's a good symbol for a fresh start.

[Note/Update: I prepared this post yesterday, and since writing it I had a little accident that I mentioned briefly on Twitter and FB. Thank you to those who expressed their concern! I love you guys. What happened was that my husband and I went for a night walk, like we've done many times before. We went a slightly different route, and I ended up taking a spill when part of a driveway/sidewalk dropped off, and I fell pretty hard, straight forward onto my face. I'm so thankful it wasn't worse (and that I still have all my teeth!) but I did bust up my chin pretty good and have bandaged palms and a nasty tooth/headache. I have to walk home with my husband's shirt wrapped around my face while crying and looking bloodied up, which was probably a scary sight! Thank goodness he was with me, and that he took such good care of me! I think I'll be drinking lots of smoothies today since I can't move my mouth too much, but I'll be back to good in no time. Thanks to those who have sent their love!]

School Nostalgia : Part 1

All images from WeHeartIt.
This part of the year is particularly difficult for me. It's hard for me to even put into words, in fact. It's similar to the feeling I experienced the first few weeks of college, when I longed for home and familiar friends and places... Only it's the exact opposite of that. I feel heartsick when I think about how much I miss the intellectual challenges, the days spent in the library, the collegiate spirit, the lecture halls, teaching classes as a TA, the exquisite old campus buildings, the smell of books, the days fueled by caffeine and determination. Nothing in my post-college life has given me the level of challenge and excitement that university life did. And now, as friends have headed to graduate school and all the local schools start up classes today for another year, I am feeling like I am left out of a club I very much want to be a part of again. In the three and a half years since I finished grad school, I have felt this feeling burn strong each August. However, this year is proving to be particularly painful for me as it is the first time I don't have a job to act as superficial distraction. But perhaps this is a good thing. Perhaps this down time will force me to face these feelings head on and examine if my nostalgia is a sign that maybe deep down I DO want to get my PhD, despite my insecurities and self-doubts. Or perhaps I should be looking for a job at a university. Or perhaps go back and study something completely different. But in the meantime, if you happen to be on a college campus and see a woman in her upper twenties wandering around looking weepy and wistful, $10 bucks says it's probably me.

Friday Frippery : For the Cat Owners...

Non-cat owners: I apologize for this cat-centric post, which I know can be annoying to those who are not fans of feline companions. I'll be back to regular posting shortly :)

I discovered these adorable animated shorts by Simon Tofield through Design Crush on Twitter this week. I spent a few minutes watching all of the videos, which are adorable in their clean animation and hilarious because they really demonstrate how universal cat behavior is! Here are my three favorite cartoons.







Kitty owners: Do your cats display these quirky behaviors? Ours sure does! Do your kitties have any other quirky habits that make you laugh?

Small Art Pen Pal Swap

Image via Samantha Kira
I haven't had a pen pal since fifth grade, when I signed up for a swap through one of those girl's magazines like Girl's Life or American Girl Magazine. I was assigned to a girl named Nina, who I believe lived in New York state. (Side-note: I find it somewhat creepy that I could potentially track this person down using Facebook + my stalker-tastic tendencies. Ah, gotta love technology). I think I sent letters far more often than I received them, being the overly verbose person that I am, but it was still fun while it lasted.

Then in college, I started to find "pen pals" in the form of other bloggers that I connected with, both via our blogs and through emails. But I still miss the hands-on quality that real letters brought, not to mention little treats like photos and trinkets.

I've been thinking about starting a little pen pal exchange through my blog here, either just between me and whoever wants a letter (if only a few people were interested) or between readers if several people want to participate. But, I'm actually getting ahead of myself. Since I don't have the details quite ironed out yet, I wanted to give a shout-out to Samantha Kira who has come up with a similar idea, geared specifically towards those hands-on creative folks who'd be interested in exchanging mini artworks along with letters. If you'd like to participate in her pen pal exchange, head on over to Journal Girl to sign up! I think it sounds like a wonderful idea!

Road Trip!

Beautiful and Classic Savannah by Stuck in Customs on Flickr
(Creative Commons License)
Husband and I have finally decided that we must take a vacation before the year is over, and it looks like the best time for us to do so will be in October, when he is already heading to South Carolina for a disc golf tournament. We decided that he'll take a road trip out there, stopping to play DG along the way, and I'll fly out to meet him later in the week. Then we're planning on hitting up Charleston, South Carolina, and Savannah, Georgia, before road-tripping our way back home to Chicago.

Does anyone have any recommendations of things to do/see/visit/eat in Savannah or Charleston? I hear nothing but great things about both cities, and I can't wait to explore these areas for the first time. Plus, I am SUCH a sucker for Southern food, y'all! Well, Southern food of the non-meat variety, which is pretty heretical to Southerners, I'm sure :)

Thanks to some recommendations Ashley at A Bird out of Water passed along to me on Twitter, I have a few places on my list already, but if anyone has any must-visit places, please let me know! Thank you!

Read Watch Listen Do

Photo via WeHeartIt
This summer is wiping me out, friends. The heat is heavy and sticky, and makes me want to do nothing more than curl up in front of the air conditioner with books and movies. I'm too hot to even blog-- seriously, my office and computer are located in the room above our building's boiler room, causing me to wither if I spend extended time in there. But my lack of posts don't seem to be that unusual in blogland these days; it seems like lots of others are off enjoying their summers!

If anyone else is as tired of the heat as I am and wants some new suggestions for indoor activities, here are some of my current favorites!

READ

1. I'm currently devouring The Red Book by Sera Beak. I hadn't heard of the book until it was mentioned several times by different people/bloggers a few months ago, which I took as a sign that I should clearly read it. It's a wonderful look at spirituality geared towards young women (although many Amazon reviewers are outside the target market at 45-50 years old, and all had rave reviews of the book as well). So far, I'm incredibly impressed by the book-- I think it really shows us how, no matter what our particular religious beliefs are, we can connect with our spirit in a way that is vibrant, fun and ALIVE. I am finding it very refreshing to find a book about spirituality that is not tied to religious dogma.

2. The article "But will it make you happy?" from the New York Times delves into how people spend money. Does more "stuff" make us happy? This article lines up with my already-existing philosophy-- spend money on experiences not belongings, and make sure you're living in a simple, purposeful way that allows experiences and relationships to blossom.

WATCH

1. Who's excited about "Eat Pray Love"?!? I want to go see this movie with my mom, so I might have to wait a few weeks to see it until our schedules mesh, but I definitely can't wait! (Side-note: Does anyone else find the rampant marketing and over-abundance of "Eat Pray Love" merchandise to be somewhat ironic and counter to the message in the book? I mean, I majored in Advertising and I GET it, but I still find it somewhat off-putting. This is probably why I don't work in advertising anymore and want nothing to do with it).

2. I feel way behind the game on this one, but I just caught an episode of "Man Shops Globe" for the first time this past weekend. And hello, what's better than watching Anthropologie's buyer search the globe for unique textiles, decor and art finds? I found Keith Johnson to be a bit dull (or perhaps I've just been watching too much reality TV where personalities are over-the-top and obnoxious), but I will still watch the show and live vicariously through his awesome job.

LISTEN

1. Despite my criticisms above, the "Eat Pray Love" soundtrack actually does sound pretty good. (Forewarning: Clicking the link will launch iTunes!)

2. I mentioned this a week or so ago, but I'm still loving Kimberly Wilson's Tranquility Du Jour podcasts. They're great to put on in the background while I'm working or doing chores. (Again, beware of clicking this link unless you want to launch iTunes!)

DO

1. Would you like to join the Kind Hearted Blogger Campaign? I think it's a wonderful idea, where we commit to being inspirational, to support each other in this community, spread kindness to one another, etc. There can be a lot of snark in the blogworld, and I don't think it serves anyone, so I strongly support Kind Hearted Bloggers!

2. Eat popsicles!

7 Years.

It's been seven years together.
Two universities.
Four degrees.
Two states.
Thousands of miles driven to see each other.
Three shared apartments.
Our first home.
Two years of marriage (almost).
Fifteen(!!) jobs between us.
One kitty.
Hundreds of dates.
A dozen or so trips.
Inside jokes.
Silly voices.
Too many viewings of "Finding Nemo" (our first date).
Lots and lots and LOTS of food.
Shared tears and shared joy.
Buckets full of laughter.
Countless plans for the future.

Seven years with my love, best friend, confidante, companion, cheerleader, #1 back-rub-er. I'm so excited for the next seven years, and the next and the next and the next...

{Photographer: Olivia Leigh}

Friday Frippery + A Tiny Foodie Friday

I'm feeling like a bit of a gloomy gus today, due to ruminating on a number of things that are out of my control anyways (I have a chronic case of "thinking too forking much"). But for me, there's no better way to make myself laugh than watching funny YouTube videos. So I'm here to spread cheer, one fuzzy animal at a time...











And while not a fuzzy animal, this lil guy still gets me every time:



See, aren't you feeling happier now? :)

As for Foodie Friday, I'm going to cop out a bit this week and refer you two beautiful food websites that I've come across over the past few weeks. First up is Veggie Wedgie, a site with STUNNING photography and yummy looking raw and vegan food. And secondly is YumUniverse. Head over to either site if you're interested in some new raw/vegan/veggie recipes or you just want to look at some yummy food porn!

Life Lessons from the Art Studio

As I've spent more and more time this year on creative pursuits, I can't help but reflect on what the practice has been teaching me. Much like the way yoga influences our life "off the mat," I've been taking my art "off the canvas." Some of the life lessons I've been learning are:

1. Keep you eyes open. Notice the little moments. Be a sponge for your surroundings.

2. Push your boundaries. The status quo will get you nowhere but mediocrity.

3. You can’t ever know how it will all look in the end.

4. There are no mistakes, only lessons.

5. Learn from those around you, but don’t imitate-- find your own voice.

6. Live your vision. Some people won’t support it, but you’ll find many kindred spirits who do understand.

7. Remember that everything you do has an impact on the final outcome. Move with intention. Small movements become cumulative.

8. There will always be critics, and sometimes you’ll find that the biggest one is YOU.

9. Less is often more.

10. The only thing that will ever transform you is practice.

What lesson have you learned from your creative pursuits? Feel free to add on to this list!

Quiet

The porch of my cabin at Squam Art Workshops, September 2009

As I sit here, quiet fills every inch of the room. There is space to move around once again, space to breathe. I don't trip over the pile of art supplies, books and my husband's drumset next to my bed when I rise now; in fact, in glorious minimalism, our bedroom now contains no more than the bed, two night stands and a dresser. And ample space to move around.

The friend who we let move in with us during a hard time in his life has finally moved out after 10 months. I don't begrudge him at all, but it is so nice to settle into a home that belongs to only my husband and me and our kitty once again. I sit now in our office/studio--no longer the roommate's bedroom. My mood has lifted considerably since reclaiming our space on Monday evening. We spent all day yesterday rearranging, shifting and clearing the air of the last several months.

And like the video I shared on Monday, I am sinking into alone-ness. I haven't been able to achieve nearly as much as I would have liked to over the past few months, no doubt due to cramped surroundings and not having the physical or mental space to let ideas breathe and be born.

So my August intentions are devoted to quiet pursuits, to buckling down to making some progress. To letting life fall back to a state of normalcy that it hasn't seen in far too long. I will start a new yoga class tonight. I have jobs to apply for, designs to finish, potential university programs to research and decisions to make. I'm so excited to reclaim this space and time for myself.

Video Inspiration : How to Be Alone

How to Be Alone video via Susannah Conway via Vivienne McMaster
Beautiful. Even as a married woman, this video rang so true for me, because I think there is so much value in loving to spend time with yourself, in loving who you are alone--even if it feels uncomfortable or lonely at first.

Do you find it hard to be alone? What's your favorite thing to do by yourself?