atlas will be 9 next week, and i will be 35 next month. wheeeeeeeee!

to celebrate, i am having a birthday celebration sale in my etsy shop. enter the coupon code ATLASIS9 at checkout for 18% off your entire purchase. good through march 25th.

there are lots of cards, and i added some of my favorite prints.

if you are wanting or needing a dose of beauty, or have had your eye on something in my shop for a while now, do go visit!

the shop will then be closed for most of april.

this year, i am really noticing the first signs of spring. they appear so much earlier than i ever expect them. i was noticing them already in early february, and now they are starting to appear everywhere.

what are the first signs of spring in your neighborhood?

{a photo project honoring radiance, one of my words for 2012 :: 52 photos that represent radiance, 52 photos that represent luminosity.}

the other day, while out on a walk, i realized something.

the sun is always shining.

always.

even when i cannot see it because it is obscured by clouds or fog or the night sky.

for some reason, i find this enormously encouraging and inspiring.

so this is a pictorial depiction of me, bouncing in my seat with glee.

did you know that this marvelous drink existed? a vanilla steamer is basically a latte, sans espresso. in other words, steamed milk plus syrup.

i feel so virtuous. i am drinking milk. i feel like i should have at least one a day, if not two or three.

i am drinking one right now. it is probably the fourth or fifth one i've had since i discovered them last week and i am just as delighted with this one as i was with the very first one. possibly i have even beamed with happiness while drinking each and every one.

i don't know why cafes don't list steamers on the menu. don't they know about people who love cafes and don't love coffee and are always trying to find the perfect coffeeless coffee drink? think how many of these i could have drunk in my cafe-going lifetime!

(i must apologize to my prior coffeeless coffee love, hot chocolate, because i fear our brief but happy affair is over.)

do you remember when i told you about the picklewich? now i want to open a cafe next door. it will be a cafe for people who love cafes and don't love coffee. i think i will call it the purist, because it will be for people who like their drinks to be simple, not complicated and diluted and doctored up with espresso.

the simple pleasure of warm steamed milk. who would have thought of it. (wait a second. i have thought of it! i used to warm milk on the stove and add a little sugar and cinnamon when i wasn't in the mood for hot chocolate! sometimes i think my brain is a little slow on the uptake.)

my beloved furry friend came home from the doggy ranch on monday. he was there for an entire week. i was at rally (rally!) from monday through thursday, and i let him stay for an extra few days of fun in order to have some me time.

let me just say, for the record, that a week of sleep is a beautiful beautiful thing. it turns out that there is really only one thing standing between me and a full night of sleep – and his name is atlas. (well, that is not entirely true. i am the one who let him sleep on the bed in the first place. clearly i did not think that through. then again, i am doubtful that the knowledge that i was giving up a good night's sleep for the duration of his life would have changed things. in the face of his cute puppy-ness and his whining, i would have done the exact same thing.)

i usually drive to rainier and pick him up, but this time, he came home on the doggy ranch bus. have i ever showed you a picture of the bus? it is the best. thing. ever. there are pictures of the bus about five rows down on this page. please go look at them. they will make you smile. if you have a dog, you will want to send your dog there. (if you live in or near portland, you should. double dog ranch is like doggy heaven on earth.)

anyway, when i spotted atlas on the bus, he was sharing a seat with another dog, a dog that was about as large as him and much furrier. i am not entirely sure how they both fit in the same seat. sam said that when atlas got on the bus, he ran all the way to the back and hopped up on the seat with scout. sam let them sit together, and scout licked atlas' ear the entire drive. apparently they were the best of friends. isn't that sweet?

atlas has such a good time with his friends at the doggy ranch that i often wish he had a doggy ranch friend (or a good doggy friend in general) in daily life. except that in daily life, it is also true that he really just wants to be with me. i guess that's ok too. sleep or no sleep, i always like to be with him.

"Joy drinks pure water."

"Beauty will dance with anyone who is brave enough to ask her."

– from The Book of Qualities by J. Ruth Gendler

{a photo project honoring radiance, one of my words for 2012 :: 52 photos that represent radiance, 52 photos that represent luminosity.}

today, in the spirit of lightness, i feel moved to tell you about the things i currently offer. i don't often mention them and the other day, i realized that because i don't, they often feel like i am embarrassed of them, which i am most definitely not. i love them all.

first, there is the secret garden: something (or somethings) you love plus a year of happy surprise, delight, and gleeful anticipation. because this is a year-long program, registration will close on march 15th.

second, there is the pause: time to put down your to-do lists and rest and recharge and renew, all in the comfort of your own home.

third, there is my etsy shop: beauty and delight and magic for mailbox and home.

fourth, there is the image grab bag: bite-sized doses of beauty that fit your life and budget, images that come with freedom and permission and possibility.

maybe one of them is just what you were needing or wanting and the time is just right!

either way, my heart is full of love and appreciation for you.

you are always welcome here.

i was trying to decide if this set of photos would be an ode to mark rothko; in the end, i decided they were not. i then decided that they could possibly be an ode to kandinsky, only a very loose one.

come to think of it, an ode to kandinsky might be a very fun photo project.

someday. when i am feeling more ambitious. i suspect i would need a great deal of shiva nata practice before my brain would be scrambled enough for that sort of challenge.

"what?!" you say. "you have a dog?! i'm shocked! i had no idea!"

i am also quoteless. this seems unusual, but there it is.

rather than forcing myself to find words, i am giving myself permission and spaciousness.

i wish you blue skies and (seemingly endless) peaceful moments.