won't you come for a walk with puppy and me?

oh, how i wish you could.

the sun is shining. the air is crisp. it is the perfect day to be outside and let the calm of the world around us soothe the chaos inside of us.

before i head out the door, a couple of quick announcements:

if you wish your life had a pause button so you could rest a bit, check out the pause. there's a special on through the end of december and i do have some openings.

also, i added the november/december collection of prints to the shop. they are joy, peace, and gratitude.

happy thursday!

i think portland is having the most magnificent display of autumn colors since i moved here in 2006. i almost cannot stand the gloriousness of it. seriously. there has been a great deal of squealing and clapping with glee. (i often think that i should not be allowed to drive in the fall. i am horribly distracted.)

apparently atlas spent this visit to the doggy ranch trying valiantly to catch bella, a little weimaraner who can outrun every dog there. he never caught her, but he certainly gave it his all, as evidenced by his trimmer waist and more visibly muscular torso.

the tiny leaves in the last photo looked like stars on the sidewalk.

since now is the time of year when so many of us need to pause (to rest and recharge and renew) more than ever, and it is also the time of year when it is the hardest to find the time and/or money to do so, i am offering a special on that service for the remainder of the year. if it speaks to you and the time is right, do sign up. there are a couple of spots available in november and a few more available in december.

i usually drink a great many eggnog lattes this time of year but i don't love coffee. yesterday, i had a brilliant plan. i always have a box of chai tea latte on hand and you add milk to it, so i bought eggnog and i am going to make eggnog chai lattes! i am anticipating the goodness of the eggnog without the coffee taste. fingers crossed that it actually is tasty.

do you want a good salad idea? roast cauliflower with olive oil, sea salt, and curry powder. toss salad greens, thinly sliced pear, red onion, and walnuts into a bowl, then add the roasted cauliflower (warm or cold, both are good). for a dressing, i like to drizzle it with olive oil and add a pinch of sea salt. it is delicious – and perfect for this season.

speaking of cauliflower, in my personal experience, one head of cauliflower equals one serving of cauliflower, especially if it's roasted. i always wonder what people do who are cooking for more than one person.

i'd love to hear what's going on in your world today.

i will be in the midwest later this week. (i have a niece! yay! i am trying to decide on a niece/nephew name since elizabeth is sort of a mouthful. i am thinking auntie e, or auntie beth, or just auntie. i heard a little girl say "auntie" this summer and it was so sweet. i wanted to be an auntie too. pronounced a as in ahhhh, by the way, not a as in ant. not that i get any say in this at all, i suspect, but i still like thinking about it.)

since i intend to be the best auntie ever, and i have fond memories of growing up in the midwest, and i can't mail any etsy shop orders until next monday, i thought i'd have an extra-special celebration.

enter auntie as the coupon code at checkout to receive 20% off anything in my etsy shop. the coupon will be good through saturday the 22nd. i'll mail the orders on monday the 24th.

plus, anyone who signs up for a reiki session this week will receive a gift of the {happy surprises} postcard set.

and since this seems to be a day for announcements ..

guess what? there are new images in the image grab bag!

guess what? i made calendars! there are now two retinal perspectives calendars: {in the land of enchantment} and {a year with atlas}. i hope you love them as much as i do. (some day, i will have to tell you the story of april & september & calendars.)

thought the first: are these not fantastic?! when i was in p-town, i found a shop with things that spun and danced and twirled. some of them were hanging outside where the wind could catch them. i was happier than happy and took photo after photo. they are some of my favorite images from my trip, never mind that you cannot tell where i took them.

thought the second: it turns out that the september collection is actually the september/october collection, so the prints will be available for another month. when i thought about finding a new set of images for october, it felt too rushed. i’ll introduce the new collection in november (think mystery and magic) and it will be available for two months as well.

thought the third: you can now purchase digital images from retinal perspectives! this is a giant experiment and i am very curious to see what happens. my vision is that people will take my images and make them their own, that they will each use the images in their own way, and i can feel so much magic and possibility and creativity in this.

thought the fourth: here’s a funny story for you. (apologies if i’ve already shared this.) i do not love the taste of coffee, but i love cafe culture. this means that i spend lots of time trying to order a coffee drink that does not taste like coffee. usually, i order a medium or large drink with whole milk and a single shot of decaf because it has the least coffee taste possible. one day, i even explained to the barista that if i didn’t feel like i would be banned from the cafe or laughed at, what i’d really want to do is order a mocha (or similar) with no espresso at all. eventually, i had an epiphany. there is such a thing as a mocha with no espresso; it’s called hot chocolate! i feel like i might be the only person in the world who took years to figure that one out.

it's monday! and so, i am continuing on with the 30 days of (something).

my morning pages are still going well. most days, i seem to write between four and seven pages, and my mind feels much less cluttered. i think that the clearing is helping new ideas and epiphanies flow in, and also releasing some of my anxiety.

this past week, i spent a lot of time noticing that i was not in flow. but i also spent some time in flow, especially as it related to my business.

for example, remember the postcards from heaven? i enjoyed that offering, as did the participants, but after the third session, i set it aside for a while.

well, i was inspired last week and the postcards are back. but this time, you'll be getting postcards from atlas! if you're interested, the session starts in october.

in another example, i added a {happy surprises} postcard set to the shop. i have a stack of brand new postcards to choose from and am so excited to send them out. a number of the images are extra-special; i have never shared them on my blog. (so many photos, so little time.)

plus, i made progress on a new project and worked through some fears and blocks.

i am definitely liking this focus on flow. i enjoy feeling like i've made progress.

if you are joining in and want to check in on this post, i would love love love to hear from you. regardless, know that i am happy that we're all in this together, and am cheering you on.

(and just for fun – because i do so love mondays – use the coupon code ilovemonday at checkout for free shipping on anything in my etsy shop today.)

off and on over the past many months, i noticed a huge feeling of resistance to the idea of selling prints. it just didn’t feel like me, and i kept wanting to remove prints from my etsy shop altogether.

this seemed rather puzzling. i thought i wanted to offer prints, but clearly something about it felt wrong.

one day, i realized the problem. i’m not offering prints in a way that is fun for me. it feels rather like i have turned my prints into a widget and i am the assembly line. of course that’s not exactly what is happening, but somehow it’s missing the same light and playful spirit that is present with my cards and postcards.

my resulting epiphany: it’s not enough to love the thing i’m offering. i have to love the process of offering it as well.

i want to bring that light and playful spirit back. i want my print offering to be full of surprise and delight and joyful anticipation. for me and for you.

so, here’s what’s going to happen.

at the end of august, all of the prints currently in the shop will disappear.

at the beginning of each month – starting in september – i’ll add a set of prints to the shop. my sense is that it will be between one and five. there may be a theme. (oh, who am i kidding; of course there will be a theme!) the sizes and prices will depend entirely on the prints.

at the beginning of the next month, those prints will disappear, and a new set will take their place. it’s entirely possible that a particular image may show up again someday; then again, it may not.

it’s a wandering collection of prints!

oh, the fun. i am so excited to play with this, and i hope you enjoy it too.

a zebra! in the wilds of my own home! can you imagine anything more delightful?!

last year, i named the moons (an idea from the wonderful book slow time by waverly fitzgerald). the august moon is the blessed moon of cold drinks, naps, and gelato.

the name of this moon seems ever so appropriate since as of today, i am on vacation. atlas is off to the doggy ranch, and i am off to the east coast to visit family. there will be a post on wednesday – i have another photo of atlas and a musing that i feel moved to share – and then i will be back next week, just in time for weimaraner wednesday.

until then, i wish you sunshine and laughter and moments of sweetness.

"it's beginning to look a lot like christmas." ha. i bet you didn't see that one coming.

i am now the happy owner of a food processor. do you know that they even slice potatoes?! i can't believe i used to wonder what on earth i would do with a food processor. thanks to my lovely food processor, i have thinly sliced carrots for salads and fresh pico de gallo in the frig. oh, happy happy day.

so it doesn't disappear without warning, i must tell you that i am saying goodbye to my animal reiki sessions at the end of the month (or thereabouts). i love the furry ones, but my heart tells me that it is time to focus my energy on other things. i need to find a way to use the icon, though – i do so love looking at sleepy atlas in my sidebar.

i saw the last harry potter movie on friday. no more harry potter. can you believe it? it feels like i've been anticipating a harry potter book or movie for at least eight years. i think i am going to start anticipating a visit to the harry potter theme park. if i wait long enough, someone is bound to invent a broomstick that flies. (really, why aren't there broomsticks that fly already? it seems very possible.)

what is going on in your world?