what's to come in 2012...

without further ado, i want to share with you some of my plans for the coming year. it's big stuff.  stuff i never ever dreamed would happen to me sort of stuff.  it is the stuff of dreams, and i am incredibly excited to share the news with you here today...
so here it goes... first off, this spring, i'll be doing something i've wanted to do for a long time now...  

then, in september i'll be back at squam art workshops in new hampshire, my all-time favorite place to teach.  

after teaching in the magical woods of squam in new hampshire, i'll be headed south to the beach to teach at squam by the sea in the outer banks of north carolina.  a beautiful place i cannot wait to experience again!

but i may have just saved the best for last... this year, for the first time, squam art workshops will also take place in italy!  i am still pinching myself over this one...  so yes, this year i'll be teaching in italy!  

 

i have so much to say about all how all of this came to be, but that will be saved next week.   i'll be sharing a lot more "behind the scenes" sorts of things with you in a new series of wednesday blog posts i'm calling, wait for it, behind the scenes, brilliant title, i know! ha! ;)

but for today, i just had to blurt it all out!  

i SO hope i'll get a chance to see you at one of these workshops!  for all the details and to sign up, head on over the beautiful new squam art workshops website...  everything you need to know is there, and registration for all sessions opens next week!  

* * *

all the parts

there's a part of me that still feels as if i'm floating away on that sparkling lake, even though my feet are thoroughly planted back home, back in the usual swing of things.

there's a part of me that wishes i could see all of those beautiful squammers more often.  

& then there's the part of me that knows that it somehow it wouldn't be as special.

 

there's a part of me that needs more time to find the words to explain it all.  

& there's that part of me that knows that they just might not come to the surface.

*

sometimes there's a part of me that likes to stay quiet, to simply sit with the all of beauty and be comforted by my blue, blurry memories.

& then there's the part of me that wants to get it all out, to share in this space so i don't forget.  & so that you might make your way to the lake someday too.

& right now, that's the part that is whispering loudly in my ear, so loudly in fact, that i may just give in.  

so for now, you have these pictures.  simple snapshots that captured quiet moments.  

the hush of the in between...

words are to come.  all in due time.  

*

it was seriously the best squam ever.  really & truly.  

all of me is incredibly thankful that i got to be a part of it. 

xo *s

rain rain go away

rainy day tea
(c) sarah ahearn bellemare

it's been a rainy rainy start to september here in new england!  i don't know about you, but i'd rather have crisp, sunshiny days with blue skies, that's for sure!  

i've been working on getting prepped for squam.  i can't believe it's in a week!  i'll be teaching 3 classes this fall, and i can't tell you how excited i am to teach, meet new folks and reconnect with friends.  squam is really the highlight of my year!   

i'm looking forward to seeing many of you there!  

more soon xo *s

ps:  i'm loving the fancy new blogger interface, much more user friendly.  yay!

you are here

ada and me

(she's in the beco)

i'm standing on the edge of the country with my feet in the ocean

i'm standing on the part of the map where it goes from green to blue

those are lyrics from the song you are here by the band, wait for it, lunch money. that's right, we're now loading up the ipod with kid songs! this served as the soundtrack for our road trip to and from north carolina. we played it over and over and over again. ada loves the music now, and luckily, so do we. i even caught my husband playing the cd in the car when he ran out to do an errand, alone, as in, no baby to hear the baby music! it's that good.

i've finally loaded the first half of my squam by the sea pictures up on flickr. and, of course in the 7 minutes i had to blog on friday, blogger was down. argh! so that's why there was a delay. i've also been working hard to have computer free weekends and focus on other things like continuing to unpack and set up our house. it's long overdue, we've been a wee bit busy, but i'm so happy to finally be getting the time to do things such as hang a curtain in our bedroom and a coat rack in the entryway. yup, those were the two "big accomplishments" around our house over the weekend.

we also had some dear friends visit on saturday with their little 3-year-old boy. it's been a couple of years since we've seen them, and it was just such a wonderful thing to pretty much to pick up where we had left off... albeit this time with a 3-year-old and a 5-month old thrown into the mix, but it was nice to catch up as we all strolled around town, went out to lunch and showed them around our neck of the woods.

many more pictures from our time at the sea over on flickr

it's a cold and rainy monday here in new england. some places nearby even got snow! i'm trying to stay inside and cozy while i work on my calendar. i love how 2011 is coming together so far, i think you will too.

xo *s

and...

we're back.

it took about 16 hours of driving with a lot of traffic, but we all made it home in one piece from the sea. ada did amazingly well in the car. rarely a peep out of her. really. she's a keeper. ; )

squam-by-the-sea was, just like you may have already heard, a m a z i n g...

really was.

you'll see what i mean when i show you my pictures. (tomorrow)

so. much. goodness.

we have been very busy since getting back home, and today, instead of writing out my "oh so very long list of stuff i want to remember to share with you that i have in my head but have yet to find the time to actually sit down and write it all out in a nice way" blog post, you'll have this one, a visual "bits and bobbles/miss (or is it mish or misc?) mash of what i have been up to in the past couple of weeks" post. phew. that was a mouthful.

mostly 'cause it's been a long, but good, day. so there. truth be told.

here it goes.... ( i think you'll like it this way better anyway)

fun at jen's studio.

see more shots here

everything was all yellow,

then it was pink and gray.

and this is what i see on the way back from yoga.

om.

captured with my iphone.

lovely sights like this made it easier to come home from the sea.

*

and lastly, for now, just dreaming about

this space and teaching a workshop there.

or some space like it.

maybe, just maybe.

this winter.

what do you think?

some peeks as promised!

i'm rushing out the door (literally!) to squam by the sea... but i had to share these peeks into the book with you! i went through the entire book (laser copies) with my editor yesterday, page by page, and it was so fun to see it all on paper! she then gave me the go-ahead to share some bits of the pages with you! yay!

see you after we return from the sea... i think it's just what i need after these busy past few months! xo *s

{8 things}

okay, so i seem to avoid blogging when i have too much to say. does that make sense?! probably not, but it's what i did last week. i returned from squam with SO much to say that i just felt overwhelmed and didn't say anything at all. silly me.

i'll get there this week, i promise, but let's just say for today that it was a fantastic time. having ada in tow with my mom made it really great, only a wee bit tricky here and there. grammy sally and ada b made lots of new friends as they strollered around while i was teaching, and i believe that ada was the second most photographed thing after the lake. so we coined a new term: babyrazzi. * to any of the people who were taking pictures~ i'd love it if you would like to share a picture or two that you captured of ada at squam! thanks! : )

{8 t h i n g s}

i did instead of blogging

last week:

monday:

brought ada to her 4-month check-up. (shots. yuck.) then, i did a lot of squam laundry. everything smelled like wood smoke from our fireplace. we had a smokey fire the first night which turned into a big old smoke fest with alarms and all. we ended up having to open the doors instead of getting warm. thank goodness for space heaters. well, i should really say space heater, because when they gave us another we blew a fuse. adventures.

tuesday:

vacuumed my house. this was WAY overdue. ada slept durning the whole thing. it's true you can vacuum around a sleeping baby. what a fun fact! and yes, it took most of my day.

wednesday:

gave ada a bath in her tub. yes, she's had a bath before, but this day marked the first bath where she didn't scream through the entire thing. no arching out or giving me the evil eye either. oh, and neither of us were in tears this time by the end of it all. we even had fun! she smiled and chatted and played... although not evident from this shot, it's true. hooray!

thursday:

my sister came from colorado to met ada for the first time. we've been having lots of fun with auntie heather! my sister is going through some big and brave life changes and we are so proud of her! she recently quit her job, is moving back east, and just today, started an MBA program in boston. exciting things are afoot. yay for my sister!

friday:

heather, jesse and i went to see one of our most favorite guys... it was so fun to see him in person! i love him even more. our bets that he would be wearing jeans, cowboy boots and an untucked white button down shirt were spot on. i'll upload a pic when i can to prove it.

also,

* ada and i went for lots of long stroller walks each day

*i dropped my camera and broke it. yup. (hence, no pictures from squam to share yet, but i'm working on getting them off of the memory card... )

*on those walks i came up with about 62 blog posts in my head that i never had the time to sit down and write.

as i promised my squam students, i will be a better blogger. so with that, i'll see you tomorrow!

xo *s

ps: i wrote this on monday afternoon, got ready to post, and then was sidetracked... so here it is on tuesday am! ah! more soon...

friday evening list

* * *

i am still playing catch up~ i finally uploaded all of my squam photos here! (better late than never!)

preparing for weekend guests~ today i did 7 loads of laundry. please note that we live on the third floor and the laundry is in the basement. yup, got my exercise today.

rewarding myself~ tea and a chocolate croissant. i earned it.

preparing for TWIST~ my favorite show is here again next weekend!

crossing things off the to do list. feels really good. that list is just way too long.

wishing i could be at the dinner party at her house tonight! it's a pre-CORE celebration!

i'm so thankful that i made it a quiet (online) October~ feeling much more refreshed and ready to share lots more with you next week. still more news to share and catching up to do!

loving our new couch~ at last we have a non-hand-me-down cozy couch! our new place is beginning to feel more like a home. ready to nest in for the winter already i think!

looking forward to showing our friends around our neighborhood and campus. i think we'll eat here too.

i'll be thinking of all of the ladies out in L.A. at the opening tomorrow night! if you are in the area, hope you'll check it out the amazing show! oh! and if you go, please, have an extra glass of wine for me!

wishing you a fun-filled weekend and i'll see you next week!

xo *s

class portrait from day two at squam

* * *

from left to right: heidi, tracey, melissa, sarah, amy (back row), stacey, me, gail (back row), stephanie, mary (back row), cheryl, jennifer, jenna, kelley, peg and kate. a BIG thank you to the lovely and talented tracey for the picture and to laura for taking it.

* * *

i'm still processing my squamagical experience, but i wanted to show you this class portrait from day two. i taught three full days at squam, which is why, i know, i have a bad cold today, but it was all worth it. i feel so lucky to have met all of these amazing ladies, to have them to "play" with all day was an unbelievable treat for me. i wish that i thought to take a class portrait each day, but alas, i did not. i will be downloading more of my photos once i find my camera cord. no, i still haven't unpacked.

more soon xo *s

ps: hey- if you are in this picture OR were one of my students, will you let me know if you have a blog/website that i can link to? i'd love to include you or your posts about squam and/or about your experiences in my class here on my blog. thank you thank you thank you! xo

a monday list.

my pieces for the eta show.

getting everything together for my squam classes!

i am going to make beet soup.

a list of (some not so fun) things:

- the day started out with an eye full of shampoo. foreshadowing.

-i then opened my shipment of carefully chosen squam supplies to discover that they had shipped everything but the paint. yes, the paint which was the majority of the order.

hello? dick blick? yes, um, i'm gonna need that paint you forgot to put in the box to teach a painting class in a few days... instead of bursting into tears, i suprised myself by remaining calm, cool and collected. they overnighted it for free and say it'll be here tomorrow. i leave for squam on wednesday. so that's that. fingers crossed.

- remember how i was going to share with you my photos from the opening of the enormous tiny art show at nahcotta? well, let's just say things didn't go quite as planned... in our first attempt at a mini summer vacation, (note that summer is pretty much over and this was our first attempt at a get-a-way) our new car died on us just as we pulled into freeport, maine. we thought it'd be fun to go to freeport, walk around for a bit and then hit our favorite spot for dinner before then making our way back down south (about an hour or so) to portsmouth, nh for the opening.

instead of having a leisurely and relaxing eveing, we rode in a tow truck to portland, then in a taxi to the airport, then in a rental car back to portsmouth. we made it to the very end of the opening, got a very late dinner and made it home just after midnight. yup. that was fun. i say all this to tell you that's why i don't have any pictures of the opening because we were just too frazzled. i hope you'll forgive me.

- i've been having fun packing up for squam and i thought you'd like to see a sneak peek. notice no paint yet, but lots of other fun goodies! i'm getting so excited to teach my class!

- i had special photo shoot with this amazing lady last weekend! it was so much fun, she's magic that one... can't wait to show you the shots she took of me. excited to see you in a couple of days thea!

- school started last week. i had first day jitters even though it my husband's first week as a new professor here at smith. i made a first day of school celebratory dinner that included a fresh arugula and goat cheese salad, a homemade pizza with carmelized onions and summer squash and chocolate lava cakes... it was nice to be cooking again now that the kitchen is (somewhat) unpacked. it was delicious. i am now attempting a chilled beet soup. wish me luck.

- the crisp fall air is officially here. love.

- hopefully with paint in tow, i head for the beauty of squam on wednesday morning. i cannot wait. going with an open heart and mind and with a car packed totally full of creative supplies. i'm so looking forward to meeting many wonderful people and having a magical time. i keep having to pinch myself.

till soon,

xo *s

today's 8 things

today. 

today is friday and i don't know where the week went.

1. today.

here's peek into one of my little books.  these are not my sketchbooks, they are smaller books filled with the scraps i find on the studio floor during a clean-up.  some bits are too precious to be thrown away, so they are saved in boxes and books like this one above.  so yes, since i just had a big clean up in the studio, i have more books like this one that are going to be filled and shared soon.  

2.  today.

stephanie reminded me that  i wrote about this process in the interview you can read here. 

3.  today.

i realized that i the foggy brain feeling i have had lately is due to feeling completely overwhelmed.  not to complain of course, but you know how they say "when i rains, it pours" ???  well, i feel like i have a little rain cloud over my head!  

4. today. 

blasted birds fly away in the car this afternoon and drove around in the springtime sun.  then this song came on, and well, this is how it felt.  you said it so well kelly rae!  things are shifting, in a good way.    

5.  today.

we may have found new home, not sure yet, but fingers are crossed.  you see, we are currently in between homes, jobs and lives.  all of my belongings are in boxes, most of our stuff is in a storage unit in another state and my studio is what you may call a make shifty sort of one at the moment.  you think this could have something to do with #3?!  

6.  today.

loving the lilacs, leafy trees and warm spring breezes.  working on appreciating the little things in life, taking it day by day and trying to remember to breathe.  (yes, i do have to stop and remember to calmly do that once and a while) 

7.  today. 

exactly one year ago today, this happened.  to say that i did a happy dance would be a complete understatement.  BIG hugs to lucie who wrote to holly.  i'm so happy that our first little correspondences have turned into friendships. this blogging world is quiet magical if i do say so myself.  

8. today. 

speaking of squam, (hint, see #2)  this is the best.  check in out!  found via the squam blog.

so that's my 8 for today.  i have so many more... 

what's today like for you?

wishing you a happy weekend!  we're heading to our favorite little "gorges" town for a few days and then i'll be back on a regular schedule.  as i type this, i am already planning next week's blog posts.  how's about another sketchbook peek?!  i'm excited for that.  : )  

i'll also share some more news and a couple of other things to look forward to.  

until then, xo, *s

much happier!

sarah. love her., originally uploaded by kelly rae roberts.

take two. at squam. smiling so big since i had just met my long lost "sister"... (aka the photographer)  

kelly has such a way with words (oh yes she does) see her blog for her latest writings on the magical experience that was had by all up at squam.  it was such a thrill to be up there and to meet the adorable kelly rae face to face. can't wait to join in on more of the fun next year!  * * *