Monthly Archives: July 2009

Celebrating*

July 31, 2009 – 3:25 pm


Karen Walrond, Irene Nam, Millenium Park, Chicago Canon Digital Rebel XSi

Things I am celebrating these days:

1. Remember that house that love built? The one in Rwanda that we all pitched in our fives and tens to help make? It’s done folks. Can you believe it? I am so moved by what power we have when we are together. See the full story on Kelly Rae’s blog. (Also, have you seen her beautiful new web site?)

2. I was honored to be featured in the Autumn issue of Artful Blogging! Have you seen this magazine people? It is full color, totally beautiful, and chock full of art and interesting people to discover. I joyfully read it cover to cover on my flight to Chicago. (And was excited to see I was in the same issue as the Shutter Sisters interview!)

3. Speaking of Shutter Sisters, I have been celebrating being a part of that incredible group of soulful and talented women. The Shutter suite was such a sweet refuge during the Blogher conference. You could just sit there all day and night and talk to nice people in your pajamas. The photo at the top of this post is of two gorgeous Shutter Sisters Karen Walrond and Irene Nam. (I posted a Superhero Photo challenge over there today.)

4. Our tomato plants are looking bedraggled and dry as a bone, but the tomatoes they are producing are off the hook delicious. Seriously, the best tomatoes I have ever eaten. Given that this is the first thing that Matt and I have ever grown in our lives, we are like proud parents, beaming as we come in each day with a new little gem in our hand. Tending them all these weeks has been a total pleasure. Next crop, lettuce!

5. Still celebrating the launch of Mondo Beyondo. I have been on a happy high all week, anticipating the magic of these classes. A warm thank you to everyone who has signed up!

6. Went out to see the neighborhood barn owls last night with a bunch of neighbors. There is a group of them in a big palm tree near my house and each night there is a wild show where the parents bring rats to the baby owls. So cool!

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Update on E-course*

July 28, 2009 – 3:00 pm


kidney bean, Millenium Park, Chicago, Canon Digital Rebel XSi

Just wanted to give you all an update on the E-course! We have sold out of Session 1 and we are currently enrolling for our next session beginning October 5th. We are blown away and overjoyed by your excitement and interest!

I am doing my best to get back to all of you with your questions and comments. (By the end of today!) Please know that we are thrilled to have each and every one of you! Welcome and orientation info is on its way and other goodies too.

p.s. I saw the kidney bean at Millenium Park over the weekend in Chicago. I had no idea it existed so imagine my surprise when I stumbled upon it. I stood in awe, snapping photo after photo, grinning with all the other admirers. Between this and the fountain with the faces on it I was in shutterbug heaven. Do you see the birds sitting on top of the bean?

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dreams come true*

July 27, 2009 – 10:37 am


Flying over Salt Lake City, Utah, Canon Digital Rebel XSi

I just got back from Blogher Chicago last night and was so thrilled to see how many of you signed up for the Mondo Beyondo e-course!! Thank you for all of your enthusiasm, support and faith in what we are creating for you. It will surely be fabulous.

Seems that Jen’s and my little Mondo Beyondo dream is coming true right before our eyes.

p.s. Enrollment is filling up quickly, so if you are interested in joining us for the first session, I recommend you sign up soon!

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Registration opens today for the Mondo Beyondo e-course*

July 23, 2009 – 12:43 pm

So it’s time everyone! Drum roll please…

Jen Lemen and I would like to announce our first online class-an online experience really-called Mondo Beyondo. For those of you who have been keeping up with our blogs, you might already know what Mondo Beyondo is… but we will take it from the top anyway. 

This is how it began:

The idea of the Mondo Beyondo list was introduced to me about ten years ago. My friend Adrienne told me that she and her husband had made a list of goals for the year (which was their tradition) but this time they added the whopper: a Mondo Beyondo list. In that moment it was like a neon sign flashing in my brain, I somehow knew what she meant even before I asked. “This is the list of totally outrageous things you would love to have happen in your life. You know, like meeting Bruce Springsteen or buying a house in the Mediterranean.”

I had been making these kinds of lists for years but had never had a name for it, or ever formalized my mental list by writing it down. My Mondo Beyondo. I liked the sound of it. I also loved the idea of stretching yourself into this world of the outrageous. If your imagination could reach a bit farther with this exercise, then you were giving yourself a powerful gift: expanding your idea of what is possible.

Working for SARK had been a Mondo Beyondo dream for me. She was the first person I had ever written fan mail to (or maybe the second? I sent a letter to Ralph Maccio back in 1982) and she was a fundamental part of my journey as a creative entrepreneur. After I got a job with her, I shared the news with an old boyfriend from New Orleans.

“Isn’t it amazing?” I gushed.

“You told me you were going to work for her one day,” he said, unfazed.

I did? I had no memory of this.

“You showed me her book, pointed to her photo and said, ‘I’m going to work for her one day. She’ll be my mentor’.”

Jen Lemen and I are passionate about manifesting. Geeky about it really. It is not only one of our personal superpowers but something we are passionate about sharing. As almost daily phone friends, we have had countless conversations about dreams and how they unfold. We started taking notes on our conversations and then began to map out the elements. What does it actually take to make our dreams come true? Is it about thinking the right thoughts? Is it about serendipity and magic? Is it about action and efforting our way there? Does it have to be about struggle?

In sharing our stories with each other, we noticed that there were key elements in our journeys. It seems that there are ways to actually create better conditions for dreams to grow, ways to clear the channels so that we can be more open to receive. Over time we realized there was so much in these conversations worth sharing, and the the Mondo Beyondo class was born. Will you join us?
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

For a description of the class and other details, go to the brand new Mondo Beyondo web site!

You can also just REGISTER here. We are so excited to have you.

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Blogher and the Shutter Suite*

July 22, 2009 – 1:41 pm


Petit and David, Tilden park, Berkeley, Canon Digital Rebel XSi

Just wanted to let you know that I will be at Blogher in Chicago this weekend! Are any of you going? If so, you can find me at the Shutter Sisters Shutter Suite. (The above photo is of my friends who are having a baby soon… aren’t they just beautiful?)

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Ben dancin

July 13, 2009 – 9:38 pm


Ben dancing, Berkeley Marina, Canon Digital Rebel XSi

“While I dance I cannot judge, I cannot hate, I cannot separate myself from life. I can only be joyful and whole.”
– Hans Bos

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Little Pink Houses

July 13, 2009 – 2:36 pm


Mati and Kelly Rae, San Francisco, Canon Digital Rebel XSi


Mati and Kelly Rae, San Francisco, Canon Digital Rebel XSi


Me and Kelly Rae, San Francisco, Canon Digital Rebel XSi

It was a great show at the Curiosity Shoppe over the weekend! Mati and Lisa Congdon’s work was incredible and well, I got to be out on the town with the ladies. I couldn’t resist buying this owl painting by Lisa… strange how certain pieces of art bewitch you.

The winner of the random drawing for the fabulous Mati Rose print is Kendra who said, “Tenderness, sass, AND sparkle, all in one piece! Makes my heart flutter.” Congratulations!

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Summer Giveaway: Mati Rose McDonough print*

July 8, 2009 – 12:10 pm

I have been decorating my house these days, slowly but surely, finding great prints on Etsy and 20×200 to adorn the walls in unique and affordable ways. My favorite print though is the one above. (I have three of Mati’s prints!)

As you can probably guess from the banner on this journal, I have a thing for stripes and pyschedelic colors. Mati is masterful at both and I love her quirky, childlike, and sophisticated style.

Today, one lucky winner will receive a print from Mati’s Suspect Shoppe. Leave a comment and win!
And if you are in San Francisco this Friday night, we will be celebrating Mati’s work at the Curiosity Shoppe in the Mission.

Giveaway Guidelines:
– You have until 9AM PST on Friday, July 10th to enter this giveaway.
– Just make a comment ON THIS POST to enter.
– This is a random drawing
– One entry per person, please. (Just push “post” ONCE and wait a few seconds. The comment should appear)

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The Lovies of our Lives

July 5, 2009 – 7:51 pm


Taken with my iphone, Berkeley, CA,

We got the first 20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B000WFPWUQ”>giraffe lovey at my baby shower. The aunt who gave it to me claims that I held it up with a puzzled look on my face, like what the heck is this? and gave a polite thank you. Little did I know that “Ra Ra” would become the most important and ubiquitous object in our home.

Let me start this story by mentioning that my mother is a shopper. She is one of those people that falls in love with a particular marinade for chicken and the next day will order a case. Discovers a great lipstick? She’ll order ten, just in case the color is ever discontinued. If I ever found a great shirt back in the day, a few more in various colors would promptly arrive in the mail. Bless her heart.

So maybe that’s what happened when Ben fell for the lovey, when it became his objet d’amour… (which some of the parenting books were saying was so vital for sleep) my why not order a case of em’? gene kicked in. Pretty soon I was online with my credit card.

It started out innocently enough.The challenge was trying to figure out how to rotate Ra Ra in the laundry when he wanted it in his hand all the time. So I ordered a couple more and hoped that he would never notice there was more than one on the premises. He didn’t notice for a while, but when he did discover it he was delighted to carry two of them around. We’d hand him one and he would immediately demand, OTHER ONE Ra Ra!!! So I ordered five more. God forbid we ever lose one, right? He then started to conduct elaborate puppet shows with the whole fleet of giraffes as the characters. Snow white and the Seven Dwarves? We totally have it covered.

The only issue now is that for sleeping he insists one in particular: “Stinky Ra Ra” which is of course the stinkiest, dirtiest, skankiest of the bunch. I am afraid to wash it because I know he will notice and all hell will break loose.

When I look at this photo from this afternoon, my heart melts with all those eyelashes and rosy cheeks. I could have just left it at that, I know, could have just posted a dreamy little photo of Ben, but I also had to tell you about our team of stinky Ra Ra’s. They are just so much a part of our lives.

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